We are pleased and proud to have as our royal patron
Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal KG, KT, GCVO, CD, QSO
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal KG, KT, GCVO, CD, QSO
Dame Katherine Grainger DBE
Born in Glasgow, Dame Katherine attended Bearsden Academy and the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow from which she gained an MPhil and LLB, followed by a PhD from Kings College London.
She was elected President of the Edinburgh University Boat Club in 1996/7, honorary President of the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association 2005, and a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta in 2008.
She was appointed MBE in2006, CBE in 2013 and DBE in 2017. In 2017 she was appointed Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University.
In the same year, the trophy awarded to the Senior Woman at the annual Henley Regatta was named ‘The Dame Katherine Grainger Quaich’.
In the last decade Katherine has been awarded 10 Honorary Doctorates from leading UK universities.
Dame Katherine holds 14 Olympic and World Championship medals including seven Gold. She remains Britain’s most decorated female Olympian.
Dame Katherine became patron of the National Coastwatch Institution in 2013 and is currently Chair of UK Sport.
Sir Christopher Coville KCB
Air Marshal Sir Christopher Coville was born in Liverpool in 1945 and joined the Royal Air Force in 1964 as a Flight Cadet at RAF College Cranwell.
After flying training, he served several tours of duty as an operational Lightning and Phantom pilot in the Air Defence role.
His early career included commanding No 111 (Fighter) Squadron, a tour in the Falkland Islands in 1983 as Officer Commanding Operations Wing, and later command of RAF Coningsby,
where he flew the Tornado F3 and displayed the Hurricane and Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
He went on to serve in several senior appointments, finishing his career as Commander-in-Chief of Personnel and Training Command, with an Air Force Board position as Air Member for Personnel.
Sir Christopher has enjoyed a successful second career in business and in the Third Sector.
In addition to several charitable positions, he is a past Chairman of Westland Helicopters Ltd (2005-2011) and is currently Senior Defence Advisor to Secure Cloud Plus,
and an Ambassador to the Open University and the Aviation Skills Partnership.
Until 2015, he was Chairman of NCI Lyme Bay, and has been a National Patron since 2010.