Cayman’s former chief justice has been knighted by King Charles III, and now officially bears the title Sir Anthony Smellie.
He was invested by the king as Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 25 Oct., but only released details of the momentous occasion on Wednesday, 15 Nov.
His knighthood, awarded for services to law and justice in the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean, was announced in the June 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
In a statement about the investiture last month, Sir Anthony said, “Having been granted this great honour by Her late Majesty the Queen in June 2022 for my work in the administration of justice in the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean Region, I felt it a duty to inform the Cayman public about the investiture.”
In exchanges with King Charles, he said, in addition to “his kind congratulatory remarks and good wishes” for Sir Anthony and his family, “the King had expressed fond recollections of his visit to the Islands as Prince of Wales in 2019, accompanied by Queen Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall”.
Sir Anthony, who retired in October 2022, served for nearly 30 years in the Judicial Administration of the Cayman Islands, including almost 25 as chief justice. He had also worked for 16 years in the legal services of the governments of the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
He was accompanied at the investiture by his wife, Lady Jacqueline Smellie, daughters Leigh Smellie O’Connor and Samantha Smellie, and son Jonathan Smellie.
In the June 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours announcement, the then-Governor of the Cayman Islands, Martyn Roper, said, “The quality and impact of [Sir Anthony’s] legal judgments and his commitment to justice have made an exceptional contribution towards building the Cayman Islands’ strong reputation for good governance as a highly respected legal jurisdiction underpinning a major financial services centre of great importance to the local economy.
“His current service on the Court of Appeal of Bermuda and past service as Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions for Jamaica are also recognised.”
The former chief justice has become only the third person in Cayman to receive a knighthood, after the late Sir Vassel Johnson and Sir Alden McLaughlin.
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