Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie (15 May 1929 – 7 February 2008) was Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1988 until his death in 2008.
On 20 February 2015 a formal inquiry for the cause of his beatification and canonisation was opened in Rome.
Contents
Early career
Bertie was born in London as the elder son of Hon. James Bertie (youngest son of the 7th Earl of Abingdon) and Lady Jean Crichton-Stuart (daughter of the 4th Marquess of Bute).
He was the fifth cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II, by common descent from King George III and his wife Queen Charlotte Sophia.
He was educated at the English Catholic public school, Ampleforth College, and graduated in Modern History from Christ Church, Oxford. He also attended the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. From 1948 to 1950, he carried out military service in the Scots Guards, becoming a commissioned officer in 1949. After a short experience in the commercial sector, he taught modern languages (particularly French and Spanish but also Russian, German, Dutch, Tibetan and Maltese) for twenty-three years at Worth School, a Benedictine public school in Sussex, England. One of his pupils there was Dominique, Prince and Count de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel, who would become Grand Hospitaller of the Order of Malta. Bertie was a judo black belt and taught judo at Worth School.
Order of Malta
Bertie was admitted to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta as a Knight of Honour and Devotion, 14 November 1956. He became a Knight of Obedience 31 March 1968. On 7 February 1975 he entered the novitiate for Knights of Justice and of 28 March 1977 became of Knight of Justice in temporary vows. He made his perpetual vows as a Knight of Justice 20 May 1981.
In 1981 Bertie also joined the government of the Order as a member of the Sovereign Council. In April 1988, he was elected Grand Master in succession to the late Fra' Angelo de Mojana. Bertie's election was ratified by Pope John Paul II 11 April 1988.
Subsequently, Bertie was Hospitaller of the Sanctuary of Lourdes, which is the annual pilgrimage site of the Order of Malta.
Bertie described the aims of the Order as "to help the poor and the sick; that is and always has been our primary aim":
The other military orders were there to fight the Saracens and to save Spain or the Holy Land or Prussia from the pagans. But we always had this special commitment to the poor and the sick. Our aims today are exactly the same as they were in 1099, the sanctification of our members through service to the sick.
Personal life
Bertie never married or had children. He died in Rome from cancer on 7 February 2008, aged 78.
Titles, styles and honours
Titles and style
His full title was: His Most Eminent Highness Fra' Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ.
Honours and awards
SMOM: Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Grand Master (1988)
Knight of Justice (1981)
Knight of Honour and Obedience (1956)
Argentina: Collar of the Order of the Liberator San Martín
Brazil: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross
Chile: Collar of the Order of Merit of Chile
France: Grand Cross of the Legion d’Honneur
Germany: Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Holy See: Knight with the Collar of the Order of Pope Pius IX
Italy: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Lithuania: Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great
Malta: Honorary Companion of Honour with Collar of the National Order of Merit
Monaco: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles
Morocco: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Throne
Panama: Gold Collar of the Order of Manuel Amador Guerrero
Poland: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (10 May 2007)