British honours system
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The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement or service to the United Kingdom. The system consists of three types of award: honours, decorations and medals:
- Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement and service;
- Decorations tend to be used to recognise specific deeds;
- Medals are used to recognise bravery, long and/or valuable service and/or good conduct.
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[edit] Brief history
Although the Anglo-Saxon kings are known to have rewarded their loyal subjects with rings and other symbols of favour, it was the Normans who introduced knighthoods as part of their feudal government. The first English order of chivalry, the Order of the Garter was created in 1348 by Edward III. Since then the system has evolved to address the changing need to recognise other forms of service to the United Kingdom. Various orders of knighthood were created as well as awards for military service, bravery, merit and achievement.
[edit] Modern honours
As the head of state, the Sovereign remains the "fount of honour", but the system for identifying and recognising candidates to honour has changed considerably over time. Various orders of knighthood have been created (see below) as well as awards for military service, bravery, merit and achievement which take the form of decorations or medals. Knighthoods awarded from an Order of Knighthood are recognised by a sash worn over the left shoulder to the right waist, in the silks of the Order, with an order star on the left breast. The Garter sash is worn right shoulder to left waist.
Most medals are not graded. Each one recognises specific service and as such there are normally set criteria which must be met. These criteria may include a period of time and will often delimit a particular geographic region. Medals are not normally presented by the Sovereign. A full list is printed in the "order of wear," published infrequently by the London Gazette.
Honours are split into classes ("orders") and are graded to distinguish different degrees of achievement or service. There are no criteria to determine these levels; various honours committees meet to discuss the candidates and decide which ones deserve which type of award and at what level. Since their decisions are inevitably subjective, the twice-yearly honours lists often provoke criticism from those who feel strongly about particular cases. Candidates are identified by public or private bodies, by government departments or are nominated by members of the public. Depending on their roles, those people selected by committee are submitted either to the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary or Defence Secretary for their approval before being sent to the Sovereign for final approval. Certain honours are awarded solely at the Sovereign's discretion, such as the Order of the Garter.
A complete list of approximately 1350 names is published twice a year, at New Year and on the date of the Sovereign's (official) birthday. The awards are then presented by the Sovereign or the Prince of Wales at investiture ceremonies.
[edit] Refusal or forfeiture
A small number of people have also refused the offer of an award, usually for personal reasons. (See List of people who have declined a British honour for an incomplete list.)
Honours are sometimes removed (forfeited) if a recipient is convicted of a criminal offence. Three notable examples of knights who forfeited their knighthoods are:
Sir Roger Casement, a distinguished colonial officer in the Congo, who was convicted of spying in the First World War, forfeited his knighthood and was executed.
Sir Jack Lyons, who had received his knighthood for his huge charitable donations and services to industry, lost it when he was convicted of fraud in the 1980s.
Sir Anthony Blunt, knighted as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures for his services to Art, lost his knighthood in the 1980s when he was revealed to be the "Third Man" in the early 1950s Burgess and Maclean spying scandal which also touched on the 1960s Philby spying affair, as a result of which he confessed to the security services. Although Blunt was never charged or convicted, the honour was withdrawn on the advice of the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, to The Queen as "fount of all honour" . It has always been widely assumed that The Queen was long aware of this background and his homosexual proclivities but had chosen to ignore them because of his charm and expert knowledge. This aspect has been the subject of several documentaries, television and stage plays.
[edit] Current orders of chivalry
- See also: Chivalric order
The current system is made up of ten orders of chivalry. The statutes of each order specify matters such as the size of the order, the use of post-nominal letters and insignia design and display.
| Complete name | Established | Motto | Associated awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Most Noble Order of the Garter | Established on 1348 by King Edward III. | Its motto is Honi soit qui mal y pense, which means "shame upon him who thinks evil of it". | None. |
| The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle | Established on 1687 by James VII. | Its motto is Nemo me impune lacessit, which means "No one provokes me with impunity". | None. |
| The Most Honourable Order of the Bath | Established on 18 May 1725 by George I. | Its motto is Tria iuncta in uno, which means "Three joined in one". | None. |
| The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George | Established on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales. | Its motto is Auspicium melioris aevi, which means "Token of a better age". | None. |
| The Distinguished Service Order | Established on 1886 by Queen Victoria. | None. | None. |
| The Royal Victorian Order | Established on 21 April 1896 by Queen Victoria. | Its motto is Victoria, which means "Victory". | The Royal Victorian Medal, The Royal Victorian Chain. |
| The Order of Merit | Established on 1902 by King Edward VII. | Its motto is For merit. | None. |
| The Imperial Service Order | Established on August 1902 by King Edward VII. | Its motto is For faithful service. | The Imperial Service Medal. |
| The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire | Established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. | Its motto is For God and the Empire. | The British Empire Medal. |
| The Order of the Companions of Honour | Established on June 1917 by King George V. | Its motto is In action faithful and in honour clear. | None. |
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[edit] Other honours and appointments
[edit] Hereditary peerage
There are five ranks of hereditary peerage: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron. Until the 19th century, peerages were usually hereditary and, until the end of the 20th century, English, British and UK peerages (except, until very recent times, those for the time being held by women) carried the right to a seat in the House of Lords.
Hereditary peerages are now normally only given to members of the Royal Family. The most recent was the grant to the Queen's youngest son, the Earl of Wessex, on his marriage in 1999, who it was implied, will be created Duke of Edinburgh on his father's death. No hereditary peerages were granted to commoners after the Labour Party came to power in 1964, until Margaret Thatcher tentatively reintroduced them by two grants to men with no sons in 1983, respectively the Speaker of the House of Commons George Thomas and her trusted deputy Willie Whitelaw. Both these titles died with their holders. She followed this with an Earldom in 1984 for the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan not long before his death, reviving a traditional honour for former Prime Ministers. Macmillan's grandson succeeded him on his death in 1986. No hereditary peerages have been created since, and Thatcher's own title is a life peerage [see further explanation below]. The concession of a hereditary knighthood, ie, baronetcy, was granted to Margaret Thatcher's husband Denis following her resignation [explained below, see Baronetcy].
[edit] Life peerage
Life peerages were introduced under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 following a test case (the Wensleydale Peerage Case) which established that non-statutory life peers would not have the right to sit in the House of Lords. At that time, life peerages were intended only for Law Lords, there being a desire to introduce legal expertise into the chamber in order to assist in its appellate law work, without conferring rights on future generations of these early working peers (since, after all, the future generations might contain no legal experts).
Subsequently, under the Life Peerages Act 1958, life peerages became the norm for all new grants outside the Royal Family, this being seen as a modest reform of the nature of the second legislative chamber. However, its effects were gradual because hereditary peers, and their successors, retained until recently their rights to attend and vote with the life peers. All hereditary peers except 92 - chosen in a secret ballot of all hereditary peers - have now lost their rights to sit in the second chamber. All hereditary peers retain dining rights to the House of Lords, retaining its title as "the best club in London".
All life peers hold the rank of Baron and automatically have the right to sit in the House of Lords. The title exists only for the duration of their own lifetime and is not passed to their heirs (although the children even of life peers enjoy courtesy titles, prefix "Honourable" in the case of children of life peers). Some life peerages are created as an honour for achievement, some for the specific purpose of introducing legislators from the various political parties (known as working peers) and some under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, with a view to judicial work. There is a discreet number appointed as "People's Peers", on recommendation of the general public. 19 Church of England bishops as of right have a seat in the House of Lords.
However, all life peers have the same rights, regardless of the particular reason for their creation. Further reform is likely after the next General Election, if Labour win a House of Commons majority. The remaining hereditary peers will be swept away, along with the Church of England bishops, and a directly elected chamber of at least 50%, could be introduced.[citation needed]
As a life peerage is not technically an "honour under the Crown", it cannot be withdrawn once granted. Thus, while knighthoods have been withdrawn as "honours under the Crown", convicted criminals who have served their sentences have returned to the House of Lords. In the case of Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare, he has chosen only to exercise dining rights and has yet to speak following his release from his conviction for perjury, though it is only moral pressure rather than any regulation which prevents him exercising his right.
[edit] Baronetcy
A hereditary honour carrying the title Sir. Baronetcies are not peerages, but are usually considered a species of knighthood.
When a baronetcy becomes vacant on the death of a holder, the heir if he wishes to be addressed as "Sir" is required to register the proofs of succession. The Official Roll of Baronets is kept at the Home Office by the Registrar of the Baronetage. Anyone who considers that he is entitled to be entered on the Roll may petition the Crown through the Home Secretary. Anyone succeeding to a baronetcy therefore must exhibit proofs of succession to the Home Secretary. A person who is not entered on the Roll will not be addressed or mentioned as a baronet or accorded precedence as a baronet, effectively declining the honour. The baronetcy can be revived at any time on provision of acceptable proofs of succession [Whitaker's Almanac 2005, p 83 et seq.].
About 83 baronetcies are listed as awaiting proofs of succession. Notable "refusniks" include Jonathon Portitt, lately of Friends of the Earth ; Ferdinand Mount, the journalist ; and Francis Dashwood, Premier Baronet of Great Britain [title created 1707].
Interestingly, Tam Dalyell, lately MP and Father of the House of Commons and scourge of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, provided proofs of succession to take his Scottish baronetcy, created in 1683, as "Sir Tam".
As with hereditary peerages, baronetcies ceased to be granted after the Labour Party came to power in 1964, except those Viscountencies of Whitelaw and Tonypandy insisted upon by Margaret Thatcher in 1983 respectively for her deputy Prime Minister and prominent Speaker of the House of Commons, though in both cases there was no heir to take the title beyond first creation.
The sole subsequent exception was a baronetcy created for the husband of Margaret Thatcher, Sir Denis Thatcher, in 1991, which was inherited by her son, Mark Thatcher, after his father's death. It was assumed that this hereditary creation was widely assumed to be a mechanism to allow her eldest son to succeed to a title.
It was widely reported that Margaret Thatcher had held out for a hereditary peerage as a retiring Prime Minister[citation needed]. Until 1959 with the Life Peerages Act, retiring Prime Ministers had taken an Earldom as of right if they chose, with the notable exception of Sir Winston Churchill, reported to have turned down the offer of a dukedom, as Duke of London, in 1945 after his election defeat. Harold Macmillan, who had been Prime Minister at the passing of the Life Peerages Act, exerted his right to an earldom as Earl of Stockton in 1984, shortly before his death.
Mrs Thatcher on this reckoning could have been created a countess. However John Major chose to revert to the new custom of no longer awarding non-royal hereditary peerages[citation needed]. While she was awarded a Life Peerage and her husband, Dennis, was created the first new baronet since the 1960s.
[edit] Knighthood
Descended from mediaeval chivalry, knights exist within the orders of chivalry and of class known as Knights Bachelor. Regular recipients include High Court judges and senior civil servants. Knighthood carries the title Sir; the female equivalent Dame only exists within the orders of chivalry.
[edit] Order of St John
Members of the Royal Order of Chivalry the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem (founded 1888) may wear the Order's insignia but the ranks within the Order of St. John do not confer official rank on the order of precedence and, likewise, the abbreviations or postnominal initials associated with the various grades of membership in the Order of St. John do not indicate precedence among the other orders. Thus someone knighted in the order does not take precedence with the knights of other British orders nor should they be addressed as "Sir" or "Dame."
[edit] Other orders
Other orders, decorations and medals which do not carry titles but entitle the holder to place post-nominal letters after his or her name also exist, as do a small number of Royal Family Orders.
[edit] Honorary awards
Citizens of countries which do not have the Queen as their head of state sometimes have honours conferred upon them, in which case the awards are "honorary". In the case of knighthoods, the holders are entitled to place initials behind their name but not style themselves "Sir". Examples of foreigners with honorary knighthoods are Riley Bechtel, Bill Gates, Bob Geldof, and Rudolph Giuliani, while Arsène Wenger and Gérard Houllier are honorary OBEs. Honorary knighthoods arise from Orders of Chivalry rather than as Knights Bachelor as the latter confers no postnominal letters.
Recipients of honorary awards who later become subjects of Her Majesty may apply to convert their awards to substantive ones. Examples of this are Marjorie Scardino, American CEO of Pearson, and Yehudi Menuhin, the American-born violinist and conductor. They were granted an honorary damehood and knighthood respectively while still American citizens, and converted them to substantive awards after they assumed British citizenship, becoming Dame Marjorie and Sir Yehudi. Menuhin later accepted a life peerage with the title Lord Menuhin.
Tony O'Reilly, who holds both British and Irish nationality [1], uses the style "Sir", but has also gained approval from the Irish Government to accept the award as is necessary under the Irish Constitution[2]. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, the German soprano, became entitled to be known as "Dame Elizabeth" when she took British nationality. Irish-born Sir Terry Wogan was initially awarded an honorary knighthood, but by the time he collected the accolade from the Queen in December 2005, he had obtained dual nationality [1] and the award was upgraded to a substantive knighthood.
Bob Geldof is often erroneously referred to in the tabloid press as "Sir Bob", though he does not have British nationality and does not appear in the British Knightage. His late wife, Paula Yates, regularly styled herself "Lady Geldof", though this may have been a ruse to enjoy preferential treatment when booking restaurants.
There is no law in the UK preventing foreigners from holding a peerage, though only Commonwealth and Irish citizens may sit in the House of Lords. This has yet to be tested under the new arrangements. However, some other countries such as the United States have laws restricting the acceptances of awards by foreign powers; in Canada, where the Canadian House of Commons has opposed the granting of titular honours with its Nickle Resolution, the prime minister Jean Chrétien advised the Queen not to grant Conrad Black a titular honour while he remained a Canadian citizen. Most Commonwealth countries have followed this line in their legislation [citation needed].
[edit] Ceremony
Each year, around 2,600 people receive their awards personally from The Queen or a member of the Royal Family. Approximately 22 Investitures are held annually in Buckingham Palace, one or two at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and one in Cardiff. There are approximately 120 recipients at each Investiture. The Queen usually conducts the Investitures, although The Prince of Wales and The Princess Royal also hold some Investitures on behalf of the Queen.
During the ceremony, The Queen enters the Ballroom of Buckingham Palace attended by two Gurkha Orderly Officers, a tradition begun in 1876 by Queen Victoria. On duty on the dais are five members of The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, which was created in 1485 by Henry VII; they are the oldest military corps in the United Kingdom. Four Gentlemen Ushers are on duty to help look after the recipients and their guests.
The Queen is escorted by either the Lord Chamberlain or the Lord Steward. After the National Anthem has been played, he stands to the right of The Queen and announces the name of each recipient and the achievement for which they are being decorated. The Queen is given a brief background by her Equerry of each recipient as they approach to receive their award.
Those who are to be knighted kneel on an Investiture stool to receive the Accolade, which is bestowed by The Queen using the sword which her father, George VI used when, as Duke of York, he was Colonel-in-Chief of the Scots Guards. Occasionally an award for Gallantry may be made posthumously and in this case The Queen presents the decoration or medal to the recipient's next-of-kin in private before the public Investiture begins.
After the award ceremony, investees are ushered out of the Ballroom into the Inner Quadrangle of Buckingham Palace, where the Royal Rota of Photographers are stationed. Here, recipients are photographed with their awards. In some cases, at this point members of the press may interview some of the more well-known investees.
[edit] Precedence
Knights and Ladies of the Garter, Thistle and St Patrick precede recipients of other orders regardless of grade. Amongst the remaining orders, individuals of a higher rank precede those of a lower rank. For instance, a Knight Grand Cross always precedes a Knight Commander. For those of equal rank, members of the higher-ranked Order take precedence. Within the same Order, precedence is accorded to that individual who received the honour earlier. Knights Bachelor come after Knights of all of the other orders, but before those with the rank of Commander or lower. The Orders of Merit (founded 1902), Companions of Honour (1917), St John (1888) and the Crown of India (1878) accord no special precedence.
Wives of Knights of a certain rank will come directly after all Dames of that rank. For instance, the wife of the most senior Knight Grand Cross of the Bath ranks directly below the most junior Dame Grand Cross of the British Empire.
[edit] Style
For peers, see Forms of address in the United Kingdom.
For baronets, the style Sir John Smith, Bt. is used. Their wives are styled simply Lady Smith. The rare baronetess is styled Dame Jane Smith, Btss.
For knights, the style Sir John Smith, [ postnominals ] is used, attaching the proper postnominal letters depending on rank and order (for knights bachelor, no postnominal letters are used). Their wives are styled Lady Smith, with no postnominal letters. A dame is styled Dame Jane Smith, [postnominals]. More familiar references or oral addresses use the first name only, e.g. Sir Alan, or Dame Judy.
Wives of knights and baronets are officially styled Dame Jane Smith, but this style is very rarely used nowadays.
Recipients of orders, decorations and medals receive no styling of Sir or Dame, but they may attach the according postnominal letters to their name, e.g. John Smith, VC.
Knights and Dames of the Order of St. John do not receive any special styling.
[edit] Reform
Reforms of the system occur from time to time. In the last century notable changes to the system have included a Royal Commission in 1925 following the scandal in which Prime Minister David Lloyd George was found to be selling honours, and a review in 1993 when Prime Minister John Major created the public nominations system.
In July 2004, the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) of the House of Commons and, concurrently, Sir Hayden Phillips, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Constitutional Affairs, both concluded reviews of the system. The PASC recommended some radical changes; Sir Hayden concentrated on issues of procedure and transparency. In February 2005 the Government responded to both reviews by issuing a Command paper detailing which of the proposed changes it had accepted. These included diversifying and opening up the system of honours selection committees for the Prime Minister's list and also the introduction of a miniature badge.
[edit] Honours for political donations
It has been revealed recently by the Sunday Times newspaper that every donor who has given £1,000,000 or more to the Labour Party since 1997 has been given a Knighthood or a Peerage. On top of this, the government has given honours to 12 of the 14 individuals who have given Labour more than £200,000 and of the 22 who donated more than £100,000, 17 received honours. Eighty percent of the money raised by individuals for the Labour Party is from those who have received honours.
Corruption and honours have always gone hand in hand from the very beginning and there are those who believe that the two are virtually indivisible by the very nature of the patronage process[citation needed]. David Lloyd George actually sold honours for cash and used the money for his personal political fundraising. In 1976, the Harold Wilson era was mired by a similar controversy which became known as The Lavender List.
[edit] See also
- British and Commonwealth orders and decorations
- State decoration
- UK topics
- Other honours systems:
- List of honorary British Knights
- New Year Honours 2006
- Birthday Honours 2006
- List of British gallantry awards for the Iraq War
- Honor system (a.k.a. trust system)
- United Kingdom order of precedence
- Maundy Gregory
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b A person born in the Republic of Ireland before 1949 who holds British nationality may be either a British subject or a British citizen. British subject status is not full British citizenship but confers equal entitlement to a substantive honour.
- ^ However the Republic of Ireland government has no right to veto the award of a British honour to an Irish citizen, whether or not that person also holds British nationality.
