Prince William was officially invested in the Order of the Garter last monday morning in a private ceremony at the Windsor Castle Throne Room, accompanied by his father and grandfather (both Freemasons).
The Pilgrim Society and the Order of the Garter (or "Knights of the Garter")' are the controlling inner-parts of the Military Order of Malta ("Knights of Malta", or "SMOM" for short). The word "Garter" can be seen as another term for "secret".
Founded in 1430 by Duke Philip III of Burgundy to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Isabel of Aviz. ... it was modeled on the English Order of the Garter (Philip had been elected to membership of the Garter in 1422, but had declined to avoid offending the king of France), but dedicated to Saint Andrew. Like the Garter it was restricted to a limited number of knights. ..."
"Its membership overlaps with that of the Garter, and both have included prominent Freemasons and even members of the original Bavarian Illuminati."
The Order of the Garter has had a long relationship by association with Freemasonry. An early history of the Order (published in 1672) was written by Elias Ashmole, known today primarily as the founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, but also the subject of one of the earliest recorded Masonic initiations (in 1646). Since the formation of Grand Lodge in 1717, a large number of Grand Masters of English Freemasonry have also been Knights of the Garter.
