Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie was the 78th Grandmaster of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Fra Andrew, or to give him his sonorously full title of His Most Eminent Highness the Prince and Grandmaster of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ, died on Thursday aged 78. He is survived by his brother Peregrine.
The Order of Malta's 268-year stint here transformed this archipelago into the sovereign nation it is today. Although for many, Malta and the eight-pointed cross are practically synonymous, there was a time when relations between the exiled order and Malta were distant if not strained. It was the election of an obscure British Knight of Justice who taught modern languages at Worth Abbey School in Sussex as the first ever British grandmaster in 1988 that changed relations between Malta and Via Condotti to the extent that today there is a Knight resident at Fort St Angelo and many conferences, convocations and seminars have been held in Malta.
It was Fra Andrew's strong personal ties with Malta that consolidated and subsequently cemented the present excellent relationship enjoyed by the Order and the Malta government. Many Maltese have been entertained and have become great personal friends of the man who eschewed excess pomp and ceremony and preferred to be called Andrew. For many years Villa Depiro in Attard was his own exclusive hideaway where he lived with his mother Lady Jean, daughter of the Marquess of Bute.
It was this special personalised relationship with Malta and the Maltese that soon after his elevation spurred the organisation of the historic international gathering of Knights in 1989. The Order had not met as an organisation in St John's Co-Cathedral since Napoleon evicted them in 1798. Since then, relations between Malta and Via Condotti, in Rome, improved immeasurably.
Today, the Maltese association is active and thriving and comprises a cross section of Maltese upper crust society from scions of the aristocracy and gentry to eminent physicians and young lawyers and successful entrepreneurs all of whom vie to be enthusiastic philanthropists.
Fra Andrew will be remembered as the Grandmaster who truly cherished his title of Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ and took it seriously. Leading by example and assisted by a mostly volunteer staff, he oversaw the numerous charitable activities of the Order that function like clockwork all over the world. With an international representation maintained by 43 national associations, the Order of Malta is the only order of chivalry that has observer status in the UN. The raison d'etre of the Order is epitomised by the annual pilgrimage to Lourdes in May where delegations from associations all over the world convey, by plane, by train and by coach, those pilgrims who are referred to as Our Lords the Sick to the grotto of Massabielle.
It is this aspect of the Order that has enabled it to survive as an internationally recognised organisation in modern times. Without its strong philanthropic side, the Order would merely be reduced to a decorative anachronism. In this troubled world an organisation that binds the great and the good in a brotherhood and sisterhood that understand the true meaning of noblesse oblige can truly work miracles.
It would be a marvelously chivalric gesture if, in view of the influence the late Grandmaster has had on relations between Malta and the Order, the government were to suggest that Fra Bertie be buried in St John's Co-Cathedral along with so many of his predecessors. It would be a fitting tribute to a man of vision who gave so much to change the public perception of the Order of Hospitaller Knights that was founded during the crusades. An Order that has survived pitched battles in Outremer, Turkish sieges, ecclesiastical and royal conspiracies, Russian imperial pretensions, Napoleonic depredations, diplomatic machinations and the pragmaticism, egalitarianism and proletarianism of modern times to survive intact in the 21st century.