Mrs Margaret Dean, recently Lord Lieutenant of Fife

At the first meeting of 2015, presided over by President Gordon MacKenzie, members welcomed a rotarian from Mannheim in Germany,  guest speaker Margaret Dean and her Rotarian husband, Brian. Before introducing the past Lord Lieutenant of Fife, Gordon led the members in warm applause for the MBE, awarded in New Years Honours List, to past-president George Donaldson, for his charity and voluntary work with a number of  local organisations, including Boys Brigade and Scouts. Gordon also pointed members to the Clubs article in the January edition of "St Andrews in Focus.

Margaret Dean, a Rotarian Paul Harris Fellow, was appointed Fifes Lord Lieutenant in May 1999, succeeding Lord Elgin, for whom she had been one of his deputy Lord Lieutenants. Margaret Dean completed her tenure in November last year, handing over to Robert Balfour. In a varied talk about the role of Lord Lieutenant and her vary many different experiences, often illustrated by amusing anecdotes, Mrs Dean provided the audience with a clear insight to the ancient role, started in the time of Henry VIII. As was explained, the Lord Lieutenant of Fife represents the sovereign in a number of activities, including promoting voluntary work, youth groups, cadet forces and the social life of  the area. The Lord Lieutenant is a non-political role and has responsibilities for events involving royal visitors and their guests.  In 2013, in recognition of this personal service for the Queen, Margaret was awarded with the CRVO (Commander of the Royal Victorian Order). Margaret gave some history of the role and how it has changed significantly from the days when the Lord Lieutenant had to provide military support to the sovereign, be rich and of aristocratic birth and of course be male!  In the many anecdotes of her 15 years as Lord Lieutenant, Margaret Dean covered such varied experiences as visits to the R&A, the Ark Royal, the Royal Wedding, Iraq War funerals, and British Empire Medal investitures where she directly represented the Queen. In completing her talk, Margaret Dean highlighted her pride in supporting  Her Majesty and the continuing importance of the constitutional monarchy.  After some questions, George Donaldson thanked Margaret Dean for both her service to the Queen and Fife and for attending the club meeting to describe the role of Lord Lieutenant and her experiences in the role.