1. Fra' Robert Matthew Festing GCStJ OBE TD DL was an English Roman Catholic official who was the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 2008 until his resignation on 28 January 2017, following a dispute with the Vatican.
Matthew Festing's father was the grandson of Colonel Sir Francis Worgan Festing.
Matthew Festing's mother was from an English recusant family, descending from the Throckmorton baronets and Blessed Sir Adrian Fortescue, martyred in 1539.
Matthew Festing attended Ampleforth College, before going to St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in Modern History.
Matthew Festing was sponsored by the British Army in the rank of second lieutenant on a university cadetship whilst at Cambridge before being commissioned, on 23 July 1971, as an Ensign in the Grenadier Guards; his personal number was 486330.
Matthew Festing was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Northumberland in 1994 and in the 1998 Birthday Honours was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Matthew Festing served as the County Cadet Commandant of the Northumbria Army Cadet Force and was Patron of the Sandhurst Foundation and a Trustee of Northumbria Historic Churches.
Matthew Festing was admitted to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 1977.
On 11 March 2008, Matthew Festing was elected Grand Master following a conclave-style meeting at the order's villa on the Aventine Hill in Rome.
Matthew Festing revealed he consulted closely with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, including its then Prefect, Gerhard Cardinal Muller.
In January 2017, Pope Francis asked Matthew Festing to resign, with the latter submitting his resignation on January 24.
Cardinal Burke, the patron of the Order, tried to convince Matthew Festing to withdraw his resignation and keep fighting the Vatican.
Matthew Festing wrote that many of the Order had "expressed their wish" that Festing not travel to Rome for the election as they felt his presence would "reopen wounds" and prevent a return to harmony.
Matthew Festing suddenly collapsed after attending the profession of vows of Fra' Francis Vassallo, in Saint John's Co-Cathedral of Valletta on 4 November 2021.
Matthew Festing died eight days later at hospital at the age of 71.