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If I told you today was the thirty-fourth birthday of ‘Baron Carrickfergus’,

would you remember that was one of the wedding day titles

Her Majesty

Queen bestowed on her grandson Prince William?

Those of us who are old enough have watched him growing-up.

The milestone photos in his family album are somehow part of our lives too:

from a distance, we were there,

and regardless of our feelings about royalty or the monarchy

many feel a real sense of connection. With this future king.

In terms of birthday sentiments, the Old Testament book Proverbs

offers a liberal smattering of wisdom for kings and would-be kings:

The glory of a king is a multitude of people it says;

Righteous lips are the delight of a king;

Loyalty and faithfulness preserve a king;

by justice a king gives stability to the land.

The line that catches my eye though comes in Proverbs 25:

It is the glory of God to conceal things,

but the glory of kings is to search things out.

To strive for discovery, in other words – to pursue the truth.

Baron Carrickfergus has a grandmother and in due course a father

to watch closely and learn from carefully.

But in the end,

he will have to search things out for himself

and we will have to let him.

For me, turning from thirty-three to thirty-four was significant.

I decided that if by tradition the man who died for me only got to thirty-three,

then whatever extra years came my way

I would offer them back to him.

Lord we hold before you all those

who play a part in the national and symbolic life of our country.

May the adventure and exhilaration of service point them and others

to the one who gave His life in service of all. Amen