The annual dinner is the highlight of the RA’s year, an opportunity to celebrate the annual exhibition, for the RAs and the art world more generally to sport their plumage.   This year the speaker was Mervyn King, who is not only a former Governor of the Bank of England, but also a former Trustee of the National Gallery.   He spoke of the democracy of the annual exhibition in encouraging new collectors into the field and of the work of Tom Monnington in reviving the fortunes of the RA, as well as painting murals for the Bank of England.   The most moving fact of the evening was that El Anatsui, a new Honorary RA, had come over especially from Nigeria for the evening.