St Paul's Lodge

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Wednesday 13th May saw the 2026 Metropolitan Grand Chapter Annual General Meeting and Investiture of those Companions receiving office and honours. The meeting was, as always, addressed by the Metropolitan Grand Superintendent, RW Warren Duke. We are delighted to present his address in full.

Ladies, Gentlemen and Companions,

It is wonderful to have you all here today to celebrate the achievements of so many London Royal Arch Masons who give so much to their own Chapters, to Metropolitan Grand Chapter and to the Royal Arch as a whole.

As I said earlier this afternoon, it is a privilege to have been able to welcome many distinguished visitors from our neighbouring Provinces and the Companion Orders, but I am also delighted to greet our other guests: our families and friends, as well as Master Masons who are yet to join the Royal Arch. You are most welcome; and I hope that this will not be the last time that you are able to join us at our meetings. To our spouses and partners, in particular, we would not be able to enjoy our Freemasonry without your sure support and indulgence of our hobby, and we are grateful to you. We probably don’t say that enough. We all look forward to joining you for drinks and dinner after today’s investiture.

My pleasurable task this afternoon has been to invest all those receiving London Grand Chapter Ranks, as well as the Active Metropolitan Grand Officers for the year ahead. Companions honoured today have earned that new collar jewel and apron for all their work across the Royal Arch and I thank you personally for that. For those of you who have been selected to be active officers, I hope that your personal commitments will allow you to throw yourself into the roles and have a wonderful, busy year! But, as all invested today will well appreciate, above all we need you to carry on the work you have been doing and be enthusiastic and joyful ambassadors for the Holy Royal Arch.

On 13th April, the eight London Chapters that had moved to form the Metropolitan Grand Inspectorate in Bulgaria were finally inaugurated into the independent Supreme Grand Chapter of Bulgaria. Our Inspectorate is now dissolved, but we are so proud to have played a small part in their Masonic journey. I am delighted to formally greet the Most Excellent First Grand Principal, Borislav Sarandev, our former Inspector; the Most Excellent Pro First Grand Principal, Ivan Yourdanov; and the Most Excellent Third Grand Principal, George Petkov; all here today. Many congratulations to you all on this great development and I am delighted that the three of you and many other Bulgarian Companions are joining other London Chapters. I am sure our shared friendship will go from strength to strength.

I was also very pleased to honour Excellent Companion Franc Županič with London Grand Chapter Rank. He is also the Most Excellent First Grand Principal of the Grand Chapter of Slovenia and we are proud to have you, Sir, as a Metropolitan Royal Arch Companion.

Central to our strategy in London is the ‘One Journey, One Organisation’ approach as it is, of course, across the whole of UGLE. This has been London’s approach since 2003, when the Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter were founded. We used to refer to our system as “Team Violet”.

Becoming truly one organisation is not about optics or for appearances. It must happen over time, when it makes sense and will benefit London Freemasonry. This year, for example, Ian Clark, our new Deputy Metropolitan Grand Superintendent, now looks after information and systems across both red and blue degrees, as well as specific Craft projects. Two of the Deputy Metropolitan Grand Masters also support areas across both Craft and Royal Arch: our charity and community projects – what UGLE refers to as the Third Pillar – are looked after by Casper Lawson, whilst Paul Grier now has the overall Metropolitan Communications Strategy brief. Indeed, plans are well formed to merge the finances of Met Grand Chapter and Met Grand Lodge, just as we have seen UGLE and SGC do.

I personally – as do all Companions here – stress how important the Royal Arch is to our whole integrated system and so it can seem a bit odd for some Craft Masons not to take that next logical step.

But saying that, it is absolutely vital that no-one pressures anyone into becoming a Royal Arch Companion. A Master Mason should take that step when it is right for him and never when he is advised he should do so!

But there is a significant number of Craft Master Masons – and some will be in the gallery today – whom we should be gently encouraging to consider completing their journey in Pure Antient Masonry.

In short, the onus is upon us to share how fulfilling, engaging and enjoyable it can be in the Royal Arch.

It is hugely encouraging that 45% of eligible London Masons in Metropolitan are subscribing members of the Royal Arch. I am pleased to report that we have made substantial progress in 2025 as we have seen the most Initiations and Exaltations for ten years; with an increase to 561 new Companions in the last year.

On April 28th, the MW Pro Grand Master announced at his business meeting that, in 2025, London Freemasonry grew its membership of both the Craft and the Royal Arch for the first time since its foundation. I thank you all for the work you have all done in both the Craft and the Royal Arch to make this milestone change in direction happen.

Early signs strongly suggest further progress in 2026, but we cannot be complacent. We should – and can – do better and I look to everyone here to make that happen.

As part of this, Met supports that decision-making with our various Royal Arch seminars, as well as the “Discover More – Discover the Royal Arch” events that we started last year and are proving ever more popular. We are now significantly upscaling them to explain to Master Masons and Past Masters the significant enthusiasm that we are seeing across London.

We have a further 14% of Met Masons, pleasingly down from 17% last year, who joined the Royal Arch and are now unattached. We are engaging with them as individuals to understand why, to see what we can learn and to offer alternatives to re-engage their enthusiasm. I am extremely grateful to Macaulay Chapter – the home of Craft Royal Arch Representatives – for leading this initiative.

In the Craft, we have over 80 Special Interest Lodges – we have the scope to expand this area further into Special Interest Chapters and create the same number. This initiative is one of the really exciting aspects of Freemasonry in London today.

For example, the Chapter for Formula One fans has had 9 Exaltees in the last two years, which is most impressive; while other Chapters are bringing members of Met teams together to enhance their work. One of the newest – Baltic Chapter for the Almoners – has 39 members and has performed its first Exaltation. Others include the London Cricket Chapter and another for rowers. A chapter for chess players is also in the offing.

These special interest Chapters create new points of entry and renewed enthusiasm, supporting recruitment, improving retention and encouraging a more active and engaged Royal Arch membership across the board.

If you have any ideas, just let anyone in the RA team, Simon or our special interest supremo, John Parry, know!

You will be aware that UGLE has launched the Centenary Hall Stone Jewel; which will involve Met, as well as all Provinces and Districts. You will all be delighted to know that this will not involve just Lodges, but that Chapters will also be able to raise funds to earn their own Chapter Centenary Hall Stone Jewels. More details will be sent to all Met Masons as the details of the appeal become progressively clearer.

This is a big year for promotions and farewells, although not goodbyes! Nick Critchlow retires after six years as a Metropolitan Grand Inspector and I thank him for all the unceasing work in the Royal Arch, as well as Tim McAndrews, Jonathan Randall, and Keiron Mallon. Mark Horlock and Jonathan Hillman also retire as Assistants after many years of devoted service to London. I express my heartfelt thanks to you all, and please don’t be strangers.

Paul Brown, Huw Pritchard, David Ellis and Tony Shepherd have been promoted from Inspectors to be Assistants with David and Tony being asked to have a key overview of the Royal Arch. Congratulations to the four of them.

I was delighted to invest Ian Clark as my new Deputy Metropolitan Grand Superintendent earlier this afternoon and he already knows how much we all rely on him. Ian – I wish you every success in this most demanding new role!

Simon White has been involved in Met as a Ruler since 2006. As I have already said, he steps down today, but has taken on the new role of Royal Arch Membership Officer and I am hugely grateful that he is still so involved. Thank you Simon.

The most significant retirement is that of the Rev’d Timothy L’Estrange, stepping down as our Deputy Metropolitan Grand Superintendent. Tim has been active in the Royal Arch in London as a Ruler since 2010, serving first as Third Metropolitan Grand Principal with a total of 16 years as a Metropolitan Ruler, which takes some beating!

Five years ago, he made a seamless transition in leadership from Chris Clark who was a very tough act to follow, being a man who contributed so very much to the Royal Arch in London.

During his term, Tim has had the enviable knack of leading a happy, productive, and collegiate team while holding all to account in their role and commitments. So much so that much in the Royal Arch structure and process is now applied in the Craft in London – another unseen but meaningful and real step forward in becoming one organisation.

The progress, the list of projects and initiatives that have been successfully delivered in London during Tim’s tenure, are too many to list here, but it is no coincidence that it closes with growth in Royal Arch membership for the first time in Metropolitan Grand Chapter’s existence.

On a more personal level Tim has a warm and engaging personality. To hear him speak on any occasion is simply a treat. There is always a valuable message delivered with compassion and humour.

While Tim is not “leaving” us, far from it, I will miss his counsel, his wisdom, and spending less day-to-day time in his company. Tim, thank you for everything.

In closing, as ever, I thank the Metropolitan Grand Scribe E and his team of staff and volunteers, along with the Director of Ceremonies and his team, and, of course, the former Stewards of 9812, for all their invaluable work to make today such a success.

Finally, once again, I extend my sincere thanks to every one of you for joining us today and supporting those who have been honoured; it is hugely appreciated. I look forward to meeting a large number of you at the drinks reception and then at dinner in the Grand Connaught Rooms.

Ladies, Gentlemen, Brethren and Companions: thank you.

In all, 846 attended in the temple, of whom two received London Chapter Rank, 106 London Grand Chapter Rank and 49 Senior LGCR. 311 then continued to a lavish dinner at the Grand Connaught Rooms.

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This article is part of Arena Magazine Issue 61 – Summer 2026.
Arena Magazine is the official online magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in Arena Issue 61 here.

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