New High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire one of the first to be approved by the King

A Wisbech man has become one of the first of the country’s High Sheriffs to be officially approved by the King.

In a centuries old tradition at London’s Buckingham Palace yesterday (Thursday) King Charles III for the first time in his reign gave his official stamp of approval to 51 High Sheriffs from all over England and Wales.

Among those approved at the special Privy Council meeting was Dr Bharatkumar (Bharat) Khetani, from Wisbech.

Dr Khetani is well known in the Wisbech area having worked as a GP at Parson Drove surgery for the best part of 30 years.

He is a member of a number of organisations and helps fundraise for local good causes.

His name was on this year’s list of new Sheriffs who were nominated in a ceremony before some of the country’s top judges at London’s Royal Courts of Justice at the end of last year.

But before the Sheriffs can take up what is the oldest secular office in Britain they have to first be officially appointed by the King or Queen in the ceremony that took place yesterday.

Now, in the coming weeks, the High Sheriffs approved yesterday will make declarations in accordance with the 1887 Sheriffs Act and take office after that.

High Sheriffs - ‘Shire Reeves’ as they were originally known - were originally appointed for each county and used to have to give account to the reigning king or queen once a year of the money they had collected on behalf of the monarch.

These days of course the High Sheriffs no longer collect money for the monarch in the way their predecessors did in centuries past. However, they have other duties which include providing hospitality to High Court judges out on circuit to preside over the country’s Crown Courts.

They are also expected to attend royal visits to their counties and are entitled to act as returning officers in parliamentary elections.