Royal Family Orders of the United Kingdom

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Insignia of the Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II Orde van Elizabeth II.jpg
Insignia of the Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II

The sovereign of the United Kingdom may award a royal family order to female members of the British royal family, as they typically do not wear the commemorative medals that men do. The same practice is in place in the royal families of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Thailand, and Tonga. The order is a personal memento rather than a state decoration. It is therefore not announced in The London Gazette, and who held which decoration must be inferred from portraits and documents.

Contents

History

The insignia of ladies of the first class of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert OrderofVictoriaandAlbertFirstClass.JPG
The insignia of ladies of the first class of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
The insignia of ladies of the second class of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert. OrderofVictoriaandAlbertSecondClass.JPG
The insignia of ladies of the second class of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert.
The insignia of ladies of the third class of the Order of Victoria and Albert. OrderofVictoriaandAlbertThirdClass.JPG
The insignia of ladies of the third class of the Order of Victoria and Albert.

The first royal family order was issued during and after the regency of George IV. Prior to 1820, he started the practice of presenting his portrait set in diamonds to ladies and gentlemen of the court, particularly female members of the royal family. The frame that surrounded his portrait might be a diamond wreath, of varying complexity, surmounted with a crown, or in a star pattern, with no crown. The badge was suspended from a white silk bow which varied for men and women. As a young woman, Princess Victoria of Kent (later Queen Victoria) received this badge from her uncle, on a blue ribbon.

William IV issued no royal family order, choosing to give other jewelry as tokens of his esteem.

Queen Victoria had no royal family order until her widowhood. She created her Royal Order of Victoria and Albert in 1862, which then served as her royal family order. The badge consisted of a cameo portrait of Victoria and Albert, and was suspended from a white ribbon. Members could use the post-nominal initials VA. Victoria wore a badge of the order, with Albert's image in front of her own; in all the other badges, her image was in front. No Royal Family Order since has been conferred on ladies of the court, and no sovereign since has worn his or her own order.

Insignia

Since then the badge of the order consists of a portrait of the sovereign set in diamonds, and is suspended from a ribbon formed into a bow. The ribbon of the royal family order changes with each monarch. Edward VII's was variegated of red, blue, and gold. George V's was pale blue. George VI's was rose pink. Each contained a portrait of the king in uniform. The reverse of the order contains the royal cypher of the sovereign. Edward VIII, king for less than a year, did not issue a family order.

The Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II depicts The Queen in evening dress wearing the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter. The miniature, painted on ivory (glass since 2017 [1] ), is bordered by diamonds and surmounted by a Tudor crown in diamonds and red enamel. The reverse, in silver-gilt, is patterned with rays and depicts the royal cypher and St. Edward's Crown in gold and enamel. The watered silk ribbon is chartreuse yellow. [2]

King Charles III's order debuted on 25 June 2024, when Queen Camilla wore it to welcome the Emperor and Empress of Japan. The King's portrait as Admiral of the Fleet is painted on polymin, a synthetic material. The ribbon is pale blue. [3]

Wearing the Order

Queen Elizabeth II wearing the royal family orders of King George V (her grandfather) and King George VI (her father) in 2006. The star and collar are a Brazilian decoration, the Order of the Southern Cross. Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace, 07 Mar 2006 crop.jpeg
Queen Elizabeth II wearing the royal family orders of King George V (her grandfather) and King George VI (her father) in 2006. The star and collar are a Brazilian decoration, the Order of the Southern Cross.

The royal family orders are worn pinned to the left shoulder at formal evening occasions when other orders and decorations are worn. If a sash is also worn over the left shoulder, the order is pinned to the sash. If more than one Royal Family Order is worn, the most recent is placed uppermost.

Similar royal badges

Queen Alexandra presented miniature portraits of herself with King Edward VII to her eldest daughter, Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, to her second daughter, Princess Victoria, and to her daughter-in-law, Princess Mary of Teck, later Queen. The ribbon was red and white, like the ribbon of Alexandra's father, Christian IX of Denmark, which she wore almost constantly. [4]

Those who served as Mistress of the Robes to Elizabeth II received a badge of office, which was distinct from the Royal Family Order but designed along similar lines: a jewelled royal cypher, worn on a yellow ribbon;[ citation needed ] it was worn on state occasions and at other events, as appropriate. The Queen's other Ladies-in-Waiting wore their own distinctive badge: a jewelled letter 'E' within an oval frame, worn on a pink silk ribbon.[ citation needed ]

List of Royal Family Orders of the United Kingdom

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References

  1. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a24125335/kate-middleton-royal-order-queen-elizabeth/
  2. "Did You Notice This Important Detail on Kate Middleton's Outfit Last Night?". Harper's BAZAAR. 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  3. https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/701571/king-charles-royal-change-ivory/
  4. Patterson, Stephen (1996). Royal Insignia: British and Foreign Orders of Chivalry from the Royal Collection. London: Merrell Holberton. p.142. ISBN 9781858940250.