Well Deserved Order of Merit for Mr. Chrétien
By Vusi Moloi © 2009
Canada’s most popular and former Prime Minister Mr. Jean Chrétien has been honoured with a rare Order of Merit by the Queen of England. The royal prestige, described as a British and Commonwealth Order, inducts the deserving Mr. Chrétien into an exclusive royal organization which is restricted to 24 members and a few foreign individuals who can be inducted by the monarchy as honorary members. This places Mr. Chrétien alongside a very small number of foreign luminaries who belong to the Order of Merit like South Africa’s elder statesman and Nobel laureate Mr. Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, US President General Dwight Eisenhower, and Dr. Albert Schweitzer among others. Mr. Chrétien is the third Canadian to be honoured in this fashion after Prime Minister Mackenzie King and Nobel laureate Prime Minister Lester Person. This writer has made pilgrimages to the Mackenzie King estate as well as the cemetery of Lester Pearson both in the Quebec Province.
Special Mark of Honour
In a statement issued by the Press Secretary to the Queen in Buckingham and published in the official website of the British Monarchy, it was noted that the Order of Merit was founded in 1902 by King Edward the VII “as a special mark of honour conferred by Sovereign on individuals of exceptional distinction in the arts, learning, sciences and other areas such as public service.” This was an important milestone for King Edward VII in the early part of his monarchy.
Queen Elizabeth II and Jean Chretien - from BritishRoyalFilms of Youtube
The royal statement further noted that appointments to the Order were “in the Sovereign’s personal gift” and that ministerial advice was not required to make the appointment meaning it was not necessary to ask the permission of the Canadian Prime Minister Mr. Steven Harper prior to honouring Mr. Chrétien.
Honour Vindicates Mr. Chrétien
This Order of Merit will go a long way to vindicate Canada’s most popular Prime Minister in recent history who consistently campaigned very hard and courageously on behalf of the African people culminating in the invitation of African leaders like former South African President Mr. Thabo Mbeki in the G8 Conference held in Kananaskis in the province of Alberta in 2002 as mentioned in the book A Goodbye To My Little Troubles. The Order of Merit medal is described as “an eight-pointed cross of red and blue enamel surmounted by the imperial crown; in the centre, upon blue enamel and surrounded by a laurel wreath, are the words in gold lettering 'For Merit'.”
Mr. Chrétien’s Liberal Party utterly destroyed the Progressive Conservatives of Canada’s Irish Prime Minister Mr. Brian Mulroney in 1993 enabling Mr. Chrétien to rule Canada for 10 years until he was succeeded by his Finance Minister and former Prime Minister Mr. Paul Martin in 2003. Mr. Chrétien was made a companion of the Order of Canada in 2009. Among his impressive achievements was the Charter of Rights which he made into law in 1982 as part of the Canadian Constitution together with Canada's legend Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Queen Elizabeth II. Mr. Chretien was the Minister of Justice at the time.
Peacemaking Skills of King Edward VII
The Order of Merit is a highly respected royal honour and its founder King Edward VII was known for his peacemaking skills in promoting international friendships on the globe. He played a pivotal role in promoting peace between the French and the British especially since the relations between the two nations had broken down as a result of the Anglo-Boer War that raged in the period of 1899 to 1902 in South Africa. Interestingly King Edward VII only became King at an old age of 60 and ruled for 9 years until his death in 1910. King Edward VII was the son of Queen Victoria whose troops suffered a crushing defeat in 1879 in the Battle of Isandlwana in the present day Province of KwaZulu Natal where the fiery Zulu King Cetshwayo, after refusing to kowtow to Queen Victoria, destroyed several battalions of British soldiers. That battle marked the only known timeline in history where the Imperialist forces of England lost to an army of the indigenous people of the land. The son and only child of the French Emperor Bonaparte III, Prince Imperial Napoleon Bonaparte perished in this Anglo-Zulu War after he was struck down by a salvo of Zulu spears before being disemboweled. Disembowelment was meant to prevent the revengeful spirits of the French Imperial Prince from coming after the Zulu fighters.
Queen Victoria got into big trouble afterwards partly because it was believed that her beautiful daughter Princess Beatrice had an affair with Prince Imperial Bonaparte and Queen Victoria had hoped he would marry her. Instead Louis pursued an affair with another irresistible beauty of Spain Princess Isabella II which was not to the liking of Queen Victoria. Some accused her of sending Louis to his death in Zululand since she worked hard hard to get him to join that war placing him under the special care of Baron Chelmsford a British General at the time in South Africa. The death of Louis was a tragic blow to the hopeful continuity of the Bonaparte dynasty which started with Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 and the French were understandably angered by it. He had already been declared Napoleon VI prior to his death. His father was the last Emperor before the third Republic.
About the Author
A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.
Canada’s most popular and former Prime Minister Mr. Jean Chrétien has been honoured with a rare Order of Merit by the Queen of England. The royal prestige, described as a British and Commonwealth Order, inducts the deserving Mr. Chrétien into an exclusive royal organization which is restricted to 24 members and a few foreign individuals who can be inducted by the monarchy as honorary members. This places Mr. Chrétien alongside a very small number of foreign luminaries who belong to the Order of Merit like South Africa’s elder statesman and Nobel laureate Mr. Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, US President General Dwight Eisenhower, and Dr. Albert Schweitzer among others. Mr. Chrétien is the third Canadian to be honoured in this fashion after Prime Minister Mackenzie King and Nobel laureate Prime Minister Lester Person. This writer has made pilgrimages to the Mackenzie King estate as well as the cemetery of Lester Pearson both in the Quebec Province.
Special Mark of Honour
In a statement issued by the Press Secretary to the Queen in Buckingham and published in the official website of the British Monarchy, it was noted that the Order of Merit was founded in 1902 by King Edward the VII “as a special mark of honour conferred by Sovereign on individuals of exceptional distinction in the arts, learning, sciences and other areas such as public service.” This was an important milestone for King Edward VII in the early part of his monarchy.
Queen Elizabeth II and Jean Chretien - from BritishRoyalFilms of Youtube
The royal statement further noted that appointments to the Order were “in the Sovereign’s personal gift” and that ministerial advice was not required to make the appointment meaning it was not necessary to ask the permission of the Canadian Prime Minister Mr. Steven Harper prior to honouring Mr. Chrétien.
Honour Vindicates Mr. Chrétien
This Order of Merit will go a long way to vindicate Canada’s most popular Prime Minister in recent history who consistently campaigned very hard and courageously on behalf of the African people culminating in the invitation of African leaders like former South African President Mr. Thabo Mbeki in the G8 Conference held in Kananaskis in the province of Alberta in 2002 as mentioned in the book A Goodbye To My Little Troubles. The Order of Merit medal is described as “an eight-pointed cross of red and blue enamel surmounted by the imperial crown; in the centre, upon blue enamel and surrounded by a laurel wreath, are the words in gold lettering 'For Merit'.”
Mr. Chrétien’s Liberal Party utterly destroyed the Progressive Conservatives of Canada’s Irish Prime Minister Mr. Brian Mulroney in 1993 enabling Mr. Chrétien to rule Canada for 10 years until he was succeeded by his Finance Minister and former Prime Minister Mr. Paul Martin in 2003. Mr. Chrétien was made a companion of the Order of Canada in 2009. Among his impressive achievements was the Charter of Rights which he made into law in 1982 as part of the Canadian Constitution together with Canada's legend Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Queen Elizabeth II. Mr. Chretien was the Minister of Justice at the time.
Peacemaking Skills of King Edward VII
The Order of Merit is a highly respected royal honour and its founder King Edward VII was known for his peacemaking skills in promoting international friendships on the globe. He played a pivotal role in promoting peace between the French and the British especially since the relations between the two nations had broken down as a result of the Anglo-Boer War that raged in the period of 1899 to 1902 in South Africa. Interestingly King Edward VII only became King at an old age of 60 and ruled for 9 years until his death in 1910. King Edward VII was the son of Queen Victoria whose troops suffered a crushing defeat in 1879 in the Battle of Isandlwana in the present day Province of KwaZulu Natal where the fiery Zulu King Cetshwayo, after refusing to kowtow to Queen Victoria, destroyed several battalions of British soldiers. That battle marked the only known timeline in history where the Imperialist forces of England lost to an army of the indigenous people of the land. The son and only child of the French Emperor Bonaparte III, Prince Imperial Napoleon Bonaparte perished in this Anglo-Zulu War after he was struck down by a salvo of Zulu spears before being disemboweled. Disembowelment was meant to prevent the revengeful spirits of the French Imperial Prince from coming after the Zulu fighters.
Queen Victoria got into big trouble afterwards partly because it was believed that her beautiful daughter Princess Beatrice had an affair with Prince Imperial Bonaparte and Queen Victoria had hoped he would marry her. Instead Louis pursued an affair with another irresistible beauty of Spain Princess Isabella II which was not to the liking of Queen Victoria. Some accused her of sending Louis to his death in Zululand since she worked hard hard to get him to join that war placing him under the special care of Baron Chelmsford a British General at the time in South Africa. The death of Louis was a tragic blow to the hopeful continuity of the Bonaparte dynasty which started with Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 and the French were understandably angered by it. He had already been declared Napoleon VI prior to his death. His father was the last Emperor before the third Republic.
About the Author
A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.
posted by Vusi Moloi at
8:17 AM
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