A Ghanaian-born officer in the British Army, Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah, named by Queen Elizabeth II as her equerry, is the first black man to hold this position. At official activities, including public visits and receptions at Buckingham Palace, the Equerry assists the monarch.
After Prince Phillip retired from public service, Major Twumasi-Ankrah supported Queen Elizabeth II at public events after the Duke of Edinburgh.
Background
However, Twumasi-Ankrah who is an officer of the Household Cavalry and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan was born in Ghana in 1979 and moved to the UK with his parents in 1982 when he was three years old. Ankrah enrolled at Queen Mary University, London upon completion of his school education and then joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Twumasi-Ankara, who was commissioned by the Blues and Royals at the time, served in the military all his life. He was the first British Army black African officer to be commissioned into the Cavalry of the Household.
Speaking on film for a documentary on Britain’s open and democratic society, Major Twumasi-Ankrah said: “As a young child, watching her majesty the Queen’s birthday parade on television, I would have never imagined that one day I’d command the regiment which I’d fallen in love with.”
He added: “From where I sit and from what I’ve seen in the UK, our cultures really do mix and intermingle, and if I’m not a good example of that I really don’t know what is.”
Major Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah, born in Ghana, will be the first black equerry in British history to represent the royal household, the Independent reports.