Distinguished royal gathering in central London to mark the centenary of the prestigious Order of Merit, Thursday 31 October 2002 at St James' Palace in London, (l-r) Backrow, Lord May, Sir Roger Penrose, Sir James Black, Lord Foster, Sir Aaron Klug, Mr Nelson Mandela, Sir Denis Rooke, Sir Anthony Caro, Sir Tom Stoppard, Lord Rothschild, Sir Edward Fox. (l-r) Frontrow, Dame Joan Sutherland, Lady Thatcher, Dr Frederick Sanger, Prof Owen Chadwick, Sir George Edwards, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II, The Prince of Wales, Sir Andrew Huxley, Dame Cicely Saunders, Sir Michael Atiyah, Lord Jenkins. Before the service, two new members of the Order - Lord May of Oxford, chairman of the Royal Society, and Lord Rothschild, chairman of the National Heritage Lottery Memorial Fund - were invested by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The Order of Merit, established in 1902 by King Edward VII, is one of the most prestigious British Orders of Chivalry and is awarded for exceptional service to the Crown or for the advancement of arts, learning, law and literature. It is in the personal gift of the Queen and is not directed by Downing Street as are many other honours. WPA ROTA POOL/ (Photo credit should read KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AFP/Getty Images)
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AFP KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH