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Coronations Epiphany
Garden Parties
Garter Services
Investitures Maundy Services
Opening of Parliament
Royal Funerals State Visits
The Ambassadors
 Founded
in 1348, The Order of the Garter is the most senior and the oldest British Order
of Chivalry and is said to have
been inspired by an incident that happened whilst King Edward III danced with
Joan, Countess of Salisbury. The Countess's garter fell to the floor and
after the King retrieved it he tied it to his own left leg. Those watching this were
apparently amused, but the King admonished them saying, 'Honi soit qui mal y
pense' (Shame on him who thinks this evil). This then became the motto of
the Order.
Modern scholars think it is more
likely that the Order was inspired by the strap used to attach pieces of armour,
and that the motto could well have referred to critics of Edward's claim to the
throne of France. The Order, consisting of the King and twenty-five
knights,
was intended by
Edward III to be reserved as the highest reward for loyalty and
for military merit.
The patron saint of the Order is
St George (patron saint of soldiers and also of
England) and the spiritual home of the Order is St George's Chapel, Windsor.
Every knight is required to display a banner of his arms in the Chapel, together
with a helmet,
a crest, a sword and an enamelled stall-plate (Coat of Arms).
These 'achievements' are taken down on the knight's death (and the insignia are
returned to the Sovereign), but the stall-plates remain as a memorial and these
now constitute one of the finest collections of heraldry in the world.
The insignia of the Order have developed over the centuries: starting with a
garter and badge depicting
St George and the Dragon. A collar was added in the
sixteenth century, and the star and broad riband in the seventeenth century.
Although the collar could not be decorated with precious stones (the statutes
forbid it), the other insignia could be decorated according to taste and
affordability.
George IV, well-known for his vanity, left 55 different Garter
badges of varying styles.
 Over the years, a number of knights have been
'degraded' (for the crimes of heresy, treason or cowardice), the most recent
example being the Duke of Ormond in 1715, or even executed - such as Lord Scrope
of Masham (a childhood friend of Henry V), and the 3rd Duke of Buckingham in
1521. Charles I wore his Order (ornamented with over 400 diamonds) to his
execution in 1649.
 From the eighteenth century to
1946, appointments to the Order (and to the Order of the Thistle) were made on
advice from government. Today, the Order has returned to its original function
as a mark of royal favour; Knights of the Garter are chosen personally by the
Sovereign to honour those who have held public office, and have contributed in a
particular way to national life or who have served the Sovereign personally.
The number of knights is limited to 24 plus royal knights. For much of its
history, the Garter was limited to the aristocracy, but today the knights are
from varied backgrounds. If there are vacancies in the Order, appointments are
announced on St George's Day (23 April).
On a Monday in mid-June, the Knights of the Garter gather at Windsor Castle, where new
knights take the oath and are invested
with the insignia. A lunch is given in the Waterloo Chamber, after which the
knights process to a service in St George's Chapel, wearing their blue velvet
robes (with the badge of the Order - St George's Cross within the Garter
surrounded by radiating silver beams - on the left shoulder) and black velvet
hats with white plumes.
The Queen (whose father
George VI appointed her and her husband to the Order in
1947), as Sovereign of the Order, attends the service along with other members
of the Royal family in the Order, including The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of
Wales and The Princess Royal. During the Middle Ages ladies were associated with
the Order, although unlike today they did not enjoy full membership. One of the
last medieval ladies to be honoured was Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of
Henry
VII and grandmother of
Henry VIII. After her death in 1509 the Order remained
exclusively male, except for reigning queens as Sovereign of the Order, until
1901 when
Edward VII made Queen Alexandra a lady of the Order.
In 1987, The Queen decided that women should be eligible for the Garter in the
same way as men. Women are therefore included in this number and currently
Baroness
Thatcher (formerly Margaret Thatcher, first female prime minister of Great
Britain) and Lady Soames (the youngest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, also a
holder of the Order of the Garter) hold this honour.
Since the early fourteenth
century, foreign monarchs have been appointed to the Order, as a means of
marking and securing alliances - one of the earliest such appointments was that
of the Duke of Urbino by Edward IV in 1474. Such appointments were and are
occasionally made to non-Christian rulers (for example, the Shah of Persia in
1902), which prompted some debate over removing Christian imagery (the cross of
St George) from the Order when it is given to non-Christian recipients; in the
end, the design remained unchanged. Foreign monarchs in the Order are known as
'Stranger Knights'. These knights are in addition to the number allowed by
statute, and they include the kings of Spain and Sweden and the Emperor of
Japan. There are 24 Knights and Lady Companions, not including members of
the Royal family. On 15 June 2009 these were:
| Knights and Lady Companions |
The Royal Family |
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24 |
His Grace The 11th Duke of Grafton, 23 Apr 1976
The Rt Hon
The Lord Richardson of Duntisbourne, 22 Apr 1983
The Rt Hon
The 6th Baron Carrington, 23 Apr 1985
His Grace
The 8th Duke of Wellington, 23 Apr 1990
Field Marshal The Rt Hon, The Lord Bramall, 23 Apr 1990
The Rt Hon
The 4th Viscount Ridley, 23 Apr 1992
The Rt Hon
The Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, 23 Apr 1992
The Rt Hon Sir Ninian Martin Stephen, 23 Apr 1994
The Rt Hon
The Baron Kingsdown, 23 Apr 1994
The Rt Hon
The 7th Baron Ashburton, 23 Apr 1994
The Rt Hon
The Baroness Thatcher, 22 Apr 1995
Sir Timothy James Alan Colman, 23 Apr 1996
His Grace
The 5th Duke of Abercorn, 23 Apr 1999
Sir William Gladstone (The 7th Baronet) of Fasque and Balfour, 23
Apr 1999
The Rt Hon
Field Marshal The Lord Inge, 23 Apr 2001
Sir Antony Arthur Acland, 23 Apr 2001
His Grace The 6th Duke of Westminster, 23 Apr 2003
The Rt Hon Lord Butler of Brockwell, 23 Apr 2003
The Rt Hon Lord Morris of Aberavon, 23 Apr 2003
The Rt Hon The Lady Soames, 23 Apr 2005
The Rt Hon Sir John Major, 23 Apr 2005
The Rt Hon
The Lord Bingham of Cornhill, 23 Apr 2005
The Rt Hon The Lord Luce, 23 Apr 2008
Sir Thomas Dunne, 23 Apr 2008 |
Sovereign of the Order
Her Majesty The Queen, 23
Apr 1947
Ladies of the Order
Her Royal Highness
The Princess Royal, 23 Apr 1994
Her Royal Highness
Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy, 23 Apr 2003
Royal Knights
Companion
His Royal Highness
The Duke of Edinburgh, 19 Nov 1947
His Royal Highness
The Prince of Wales, 26 Jul 1958
His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, 9 Oct 1985
His Royal Highness
The Duke of Gloucester, 23 Apr 1996
His Royal Highness
The Duke of York, 23 Apr 2006
His Royal Highness
The Duke of Wessex, 23 Apr 2006
His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales, 23 Apr 2008
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Extra (Stranger) Companion Knights and Ladies |
Officers of the Order |
His Royal
Highness
Grand Duke of Luxembourg, 14 Jun 1972
The Queen of Denmark, 16 May 1979
The King of Sweden, 25 May 1983
The King of Spain, 17 Oct 1988
The Queen of The Netherlands, 28 Jun 1989
The Emperor of Japan, 26 May 1998
King Harold V of Norway, 30 May 2001 |
Prelate: The Rt Rev Michael
Scott-Joynt (Lord Bishop of Winchester)
Chancellor: The Rt Hon The Lord Carrington
Registrar: The Rt Rev David Conner (Dean of St George's Chapel)
Garter Principle King of Arms: Peter Gwynn-Jones Esq
Sec: Patric Laurence Dickinson (Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary)
Usher: Sir Frederick Viggers (Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod) |
The Investiture Ceremony
The investiture of new
Knights is held in the Throne Room of Windsor Castle on the morning of the
Garter Service. Two Officers of the Order -
Garter King of Arms and the
Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod - bring
the Knight or Lady elect. The Knight or Lady is escorted to the
Sovereign between two Knight sponsors. The Sovereign personally
invests the recipient with all the insignia of The Order. For men, a
garter is tied around the left leg and is held by Garter King of Arms whilst
the admonition is read. The admonition recalls an era when members of
the Order of the Garter formed the backbone of the Monarch's military
command:
"To the honour of God Omnipotent and Memorial of the Blessed Martyr, St
George, tie about thy leg, for thy renown, this most Noble Garter. Wear it
as a symbol of the Most Illustrious Order, never to be forgotten or paid
aside, that thereby thou mayest be admonished to be courageous, and having
undertaken a just war, with which thou shalt be engaged, thou mayest stand
firm, valiant fight courageously and successfully conquer"
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