A portrait of Pope Benedict XVI by one of Britain’s foremost portrait painters, Clarence Crawford, was unveiled by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and His Excellency Mr. Francis Campbell, Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador to the Holy See, on Wednesday 18th October.
The unveiling took place at a reception in honour of Mr. Campbell, hosted by the Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain, in the Throne Room of Archbishop’s House. Guests included Sir Sigmund Sternberg, and Lord Nicholas Windsor who was accompanied by his fiancée Dona Paola Doimi de Frankopan.
The ambassador, who was appointed in December 2005, is the first Roman Catholic to hold this post since the Reformation. Sir Swinton Thomas, Chairman of the Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain, looked forward in his speech to the success of Mr. Campbell’s term in office before Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor spoke of his certainty that the ambassador’s appointment, which he previously described as “imaginative”, would continue to develop a fruitful relationship between Her Majesty’s Government and the Holy See.