On Sunday 19th May, in glorious sunshine, King's legacy club, the Robert Rose Society, gathered together on Green Court for their annual lunch. The lunch is always a wonderful opportunity to rekindle connections to the school; be amongst friends, old and new; and celebrate all that King's, and this Society, can achieve. 

We were delighted to be joined by over 60 of our members and friends, as well as the Head, Captain of School and Society chairman, Richard Ashworth (SH 1960-64). Liza, Captain of School, delivered a speech about her time at King's that perfectly summed up the special connection that the school has with its community. 

Everyone in my year group talks a lot about our time at King’s coming to an end and all the things that we are doing for the last time ever. But I think what is even more difficult to wrap your mind around is that even though we come and go, King’s has stood here for millennia and will stand twice as long yet. Of course, many things change and that can often be unsettling. Everyone knows that the human mind does not cope well with change. Things have changed even since I joined in 2019 and it takes a lot of patience and foresight to recognise all these changes as positive ones. An institution such as King’s needs to be flexible and adaptive to be able to thrive across centuries as it has done even if this does not always fit our perception of what King’s has been or should be.

And yet talking to you all here today, it makes me realise how similar many things still are: we still sing the same hymns, scholars still process in the cathedral and we stand for the school photo in the same way that every year before us has.

All the people who are a part of the King’s history have very different backgrounds, families and lives in general; we all do different things, have different paths and aspirations, but what every single person who sticks around has in common, is that we all sincerely love it in a way that is hard to put into words; this has been true for many years and is still very true today, so our legacies live on.

The mission of the Robert Rose Society is to reach out to those whose lives have been touched and inspired by King’s. All our Members, united by their faith in the school and the belief that the education we provide can and does transform lives, have designated gifts in their will to support King’s beyond their lifetime. In doing so, they shape the school for the future and ensure that we are able to stay true to our mission for the next generation. We are enormously grateful to them for their support. 

Click here to view the programme for the Robert Rose Lunch.

If you’d like to learn more about the Society, please contact Bryony Dutta: b.dutta@kings-school.co.uk or 07483 170489.