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“The Order of Malta held strong against them, and by doing so saved Europe,” said a 26-year-old Scotsman named William Murray, another party organizer. Somewhat sheepishly, he revealed that he is the Honourable William Murray, Master of Stormont.
But he is not a knight (yet). “I was the aide-de-camp to the Grand Master in Rome,” he said. “You know ‘The Devil Wears Prada’? More like ‘God Wears Prada.’ I’m Anne Hathaway.”
As for the party, he said, “I’m the idiot who came up with the idea,” along with Mr. Falez. The concept, he added, was to stoke awareness of the order in New York (the ball has a well-established equivalent in London) and to raise funds for humanitarian projects, including a summer camp for disabled youth and disaster relief for earthquake victims in Nepal and Chile.
The pair enlisted Dr. Espiritu as a co-chairman and their friend Laura Webb as the ball’s creative director. “I want this to be one of the landmark social fund-raising events in New York,” Mr. Murray said. “It’s going to happen. The mystique of the order is on our side.”
His girlfriend, Kate Borowitz, led him into the dining room, where guests were served lobster-claw starters and filet mignon as they sat beneath a ceiling of painted cherubs. Dr. Espiritu was seated between two models, Tottie Greer and Solveig Hansen.
“We were both born premature,” said Ms. Hansen, who is Danish, referring to herself and Ms. Greer. “Mike is a neonatal doctor, and one of the missions is a neonatal hospital in Bethlehem. And so we got to talking. We actually met at a Knicks game.”
Mr. Murray got up to announce the raffle prizes, including a bottle of Macallan Scotch and a pair of custom Lareymondie loafers. Then he invited up an honorary host, John T. Dunlap, who sits on the order’s Sovereign Council in Rome.
“I’m a professed knight,” Mr. Dunlap, a lawyer, explained later. “I took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.” He wore a kilt (he’s Scottish-Canadian) and 11 miniatures on his lapel. “Every time a head of state comes, I get another medal.”
After dinner, there was dancing, a photo booth where guests could pose with a coat of arms, and a beautification station from the company beGlammed, where Jasmine Lobe, the sex columnist for The New York Observer, got her hair primped. She said she met Dr. Espiritu at a party at the Whitney Museum.
“He never told me he was a knight,” she said.
“Does he not list it on Facebook?” asked her plus-one, a Los Angeles astrologer named Rose Theodora.
“I don’t know him that well,” Ms. Lobe said. She added, “Actually, I just wrote a column about finding your knight in shining armor. A lot of women have fantasies about Prince Charming coming into their lives, and I think that as a woman you start to realize you’re your own knight in shining armor.”
Did she realize she was surrounded by actual, honest-to-goodness knights?
“Scratch what I said!” she cried. “Excuse me, I’m going to go up to the top of a tower and wait.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/fashion/order-of-malta-white-cross-ball.html
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