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Many recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom have had them revoked, often following conviction for crimes or breaches of military discipline, or when their conduct has been widely considered discreditable. In other cases, prominent nationals of countries with which the UK has later found itself at war or in dispute have had their honours revoked.
All 8 revocations were restored to the Victoria Cross register by King George V in the 1920s. [1]
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1861 | Valentine Bambrick | 1858 | Convicted of assault and theft of a comrade's medals [2] | |
1861 | Edward St John Daniel | 1857 | Convicted of desertion and evading court-martial [3] | |
1862 | James McGuire | 1858 | Convicted of stealing a cow [4] | |
1872 | Michael Murphy | 1859 | Convicted of theft [5] | |
1881 | Thomas Lane | 1861 | Convicted of desertion and theft [1] | |
1884 | Frederick Corbett | 1883 | Convicted of embezzlement and theft from an officer [6] | |
1895 | James Collis | 1881 | Convicted of bigamy [7] | |
1908 | George Ravenhill | 1901 | Convicted of theft [8] | Name was never formally struck from the Victoria Cross register [8] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of award | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1921 | Major Ewen Cameron Bruce | 1917 | Convicted of robbing a creamery | Also stripped of his DSO |
1936 | Lieutenant-Colonel Denis Daly | 1919 | Convicted by court-martial of "offences against men in his employ" | Also stripped of his DSO |
2014 | Major Robert Armstrong | 2009 | The medal citation may not have been accurate in its details. [9] | |
2016 | Captain William Boreham | 2012 | Senior officers exaggerated his bravery [10] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 March 1687 | Sir Thomas Chicheley | 1670 | Fell from favour [11] | |
January 1721 | John Aislabie | Convicted of corruption [12] | ||
13 December 1921 | Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Bt | 1909 | Pro-German activities during World War I [13] | |
8 June 2011 | Elliot Morley | 19 December 2006 | United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal [14] | |
10 October 2013 | Denis MacShane | April 2002 | United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal [15] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1915 | Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia | 1877 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of Royal Victorian Chain and honorary GCVO |
1915 | Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria-Hungary | 1867 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of Royal Victorian Chain |
1915 | Prince Heinrich of Prussia | 1889 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of honorary GCB and Royal Victorian Chain |
1915 | Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine | 1892 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of honorary GCB and Royal Victorian Chain |
1915 | Wilhelm, German Crown Prince and Crown Prince of Prussia | 1901 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of Royal Victorian Chain |
1915 | Ernst August, Crown Prince of Hanover and Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale | 1878 | World War I [16] | Later stripped of the titles Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale and Earl of Armagh by the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 |
1915 | Carl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Albany | 1902 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of honorary GCVO; later stripped of the titles of Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow by the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 |
1915 | Wilhelm II, King of Württemberg | 1904 | World War I [16] | |
1941 | Vittorio Emanuele, King of Italy | 1891 | World War II [16] | Also stripped of honorary GCB and Royal Victorian Chain |
1941 | Hirohito, Emperor of Japan | 1929 | World War II [16] | Restored in 1971 |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1814 | Thomas Cochrane, Lord Cochrane | 1809 | Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814 [17] | Later appointed GCB in 1847 |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1816 | Eyre Coote | 1815 | "Conduct unworthy of an officer and a gentleman" [18] | |
1940 | Benito Mussolini | 1923 | World War II [19] | |
1989 | Nicolae Ceaușescu | 1978 | Convicted of economic sabotage and genocide [20] | Stripped the day before his execution |
25 June 2008 | Robert Mugabe | 1994 | On the advice of the Foreign Secretary [21] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1918 | Colonel Percy Holland | 1913 [22] | Possibly for writing letters of an incriminating sexual nature to Sidney Harry Fox [23] [24] | |
1975 | George Pottinger | 1972 | Convicted of corruptly receiving gifts from architect John Poulson [25] | Also stripped of CVO |
2013 | Vicky Pryce | 2009 | Convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice [26] [27] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1931 | Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant | 1918 | Convicted of fraud for issuing a misleading stock prospectus [28] | Also stripped of his KStJ |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1880 | James Craig Loggie | 1873 | Convicted of embezzlement and misappropriation of money [29] [30] | |
1916 | Roger Casement | 1905 | Convicted of high treason | Stripped prior to his execution; also stripped of his knighthood [31] |
1920 | Lieutenant-Colonel Sydney Douglas Rumbold | 1919 | Also stripped of his DSO |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1915 | Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia | 1877 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of KG and honorary GCVO |
1915 | Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria-Hungary | 1867 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of KG |
1915 | Prince Heinrich of Prussia | 1889 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of KG and honorary GCB |
1915 | Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine | 1892 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of KG and honorary GCB |
1915 | Wilhelm, German Crown Prince and Crown Prince of Prussia | 1901 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of KG |
1941 | Vittorio Emanuele, King of Italy | 1891 | World War II [16] | Also stripped of KG and honorary GCB |
1942 | Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu | 1930 | World War II |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1915 | Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia | 1877 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of KG and Royal Victorian Chain |
1915 | Carl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Albany | 1902 | World War I [16] | Also stripped of KG; later stripped of the titles of Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow by the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 |
1915 | Prince Leopold of Bavaria | 1907 | World War I |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Anthony Blunt | 1956 | Exposed as a member of the Cambridge Five [32] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1948 | Major FitzRoy Hubert Fyers | 1939 | Convicted of "persistently importuning male persons for an immoral purpose at South Kensington District Railway Station" | |
1975 | George Pottinger | 1953 | Convicted of corruption | Also stripped of CB [25] |
2018 | Hubert Chesshyre | 2003 | Found to have committed child sexual abuse offenses in a trial of the facts [33] |
Member (fifth class) prior to 1984
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1911 | The Rev. Frederic Percival Farrar | 1911 | ||
2004 | Cyril Littlewood | 2001 | Convicted of sexual abuse [34] | Also stripped of MBE |
2007 | Michael Joseph Delaney | 2005 [35] [36] | ||
2017 | Ronald Clifford Harper | 2004 | Convicted of conspiracy to make corrupt payments [37] [38] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1921 | Lieutenant-Colonel Eknath Hathi | 1917 [39] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1916 | Roger Casement | 1911 | Convicted of high treason [31] | Also stripped of his CMG |
1918 | Joseph Jonas | 1905 | Convicted of a misdemeanour | |
1980 | Joseph Kagan, Baron Kagan | 1970 | Convicted of theft [40] | |
1991 | Jack Lyons | 1967 | Convicted of fraud [41] [42] [43] | Also stripped of his CBE |
1993 | Commissioner Terry Lewis | 1986 | Convicted of perjury, corruption and forgery [44] | Also stripped of his OBE and QPM |
2012 | Fred Goodwin | 2004 | Criticism of his conduct as Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group | |
2013 | James Crosby | 2006 | Criticism of his conduct as Chief Executive of Halifax Bank [45] | |
2014 | Alan Seymour Davies | 2000 | Convicted of false accounting [46] [47] | |
2015 | George Castledine | 2007 | Struck off the nursing register for sexual misconduct [48] | |
2016 | Allan Kemakeza | 2001 | Convicted of demanding money with menace, intimidation and larceny [49] [50] | |
2021 | Ron Brierley | 1988 | Charged with possessing child abuse material [51] |
Date of revocation | Recipient | Date of appointment | Reason | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | Albert Henry | 1974 | Convicted of electoral fraud [52] | |
2011 | Jean Else | 2001 | Banned from running a school by General Teaching Council for England misconduct hearing [53] | First and to date only dame to have an honour revoked |
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