Order of the Companions of Honour

{{Infobox order

|title = Order of the
Companions of Honour

|image = CHCompanionofHonour.jpg

|image_size = 150px

|caption = Badge and ribbon of the order

|awarded_by = Charles III

|type = Order

|established = 4 June 1917

|motto = In Action Faithful and in Honour Clear

|eligibility = All living citizens of the Commonwealth realms

|criteria = Nationally important service

|status = Currently constituted

|founder = George V

|head_title = Sovereign

|head = Charles III

|grades = Member (CH)

|date = 1917

|image2 = Order of the Companions of Honour Ribbon.gif

|image_size2 = 100px

|caption2 = Ribbon bar of the order

}}

The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire.{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/CompanionsofHonour.aspx |title=The Monarch of the Today > Queen Ann arbor to the new one w public > Honours > Companions of Honour |publisher=Royal.gov.uk |access-date=3 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223114812/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/CompanionsofHonour.aspx |archive-date=23 December 2011 }}

The order was originally intended to be conferred upon a limited number of persons for whom this special distinction seemed to be the most appropriate form of recognition, constituting an honour dissociated from either the acceptance of title or the classification of merit.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1917-08-25/7/12.html |title=A New Order |newspaper=The Times |date=25 August 1917 |page=7 |url-access=subscription }} It is now described as being "awarded for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time".{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/honours/types-of-honours-and-awards |title=The honours system: Types of honours and awards |publisher=UK Government |date=22 August 2016 |access-date=31 August 2016}} The first recipients of the order were all decorated for "services in connection with the war" and were listed in The London Gazette.{{London Gazette |issue=30250 |supp=y |date=24 August 1917 |page=8799}}

Composition

Image:btweedsmuir2.jpg, Lord Tweedsmuir, as Governor General of Canada, wearing the Order of the Companions of Honour badge around his neck]]

The order consists of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms, who is the Sovereign of the Order of the Companions of Honour, and a maximum of 65 members. Additionally, foreigners or Commonwealth citizens from outside the Commonwealth realms may be added as honorary members. Members are organised into a single class and are appointed by the monarch of the Commonwealth realms in their capacity as sovereign of the order. While membership of the order confers no title or precedence, those inducted into the order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters CH.

Appointments to the order are generally made on the advice of prime ministers of the Commonwealth realms. For Canadians, the advice to the Sovereign can come from a variety of officials.{{Cite book| last=McCreery| first=Christopher| author-link=Christopher McCreery| title=The Canadian Honours System| publisher=Dundurn Press| location=Toronto| year=2005a| page=100| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQZ-db0k1jAC&q=The%20Canadian%20Honours%20System&pg=PA1| isbn=978-1-55002-554-5}} Originally, the order was limited to 50 ordinary members, but in 1943 it was enlarged to 65, with a quota of 45 members for the United Kingdom, seven for Australia, two each for New Zealand and South Africa, and nine for India, Burma, and the other British colonies. The quota numbers were altered in 1970 to 47 for the United Kingdom, seven for Australia, two for New Zealand, and nine for other Commonwealth realms. The quota was adjusted again in 1975 by adding two places to the New Zealand quota and reducing the nine for the other countries to seven.{{cite web| url=http://www.leighrayment.com/misc/compofhonor.htm| title=Companions of Honour| last=Rayment| first=Leigh| access-date=7 December 2013| url-status=usurped| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926113647/http://www.leighrayment.com/misc/compofhonor.htm| archive-date=26 September 2008}}

Whilst still able to nominate candidates to the order, the Cabinet of Australia has effectively stopped the allocation of this award to that country's citizens in preference to other Australian honours. The last Australian member, Doug Anthony, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, died on 20 December 2020.{{cite news |last1=Barbour |first1=Lucy |title=Doug Anthony, former Nationals leader and deputy prime minister, dies aged 90 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-20/former-deputy-prime-minister-doug-anthony-dies/12590524 |access-date=20 December 2020 |work=ABC News |location=Australia |date=20 December 2020}} Companions from other Commonwealth realms continue to be appointed, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, a New Zealand soprano, was given the award in 2018 and Canadian author Margaret Atwood was given the award in 2019.

Lord Coe represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation.{{cite news |title=Coronation order of service in full |work=BBC News |date=5 May 2023 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65503950 |access-date=6 May 2023}}

Insignia

The insignia of the order is in the form of an oval medallion, surmounted by a royal crown (but, until recently, surmounted by an imperial crown), and with a rectangular panel within, depicting on it an oak tree, a shield with the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom hanging from one branch, and, on the left, a mounted knight in armour. The insignia's blue border bears in gold letters the motto IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR, Alexander Pope's description (in iambic pentameter) in his Epistle to Mr Addison of James Craggs the Younger, later used on Craggs's monument in Westminster Abbey. Men wear the badge on a neck ribbon (red with golden border threads) and women on a bow at the left shoulder.

Current members

= Sovereign =

class="wikitable" style="width:100%; background:white; border:#01796f solid;"

!Name

!Year of appointment

!Present age

King Charles III (ex officio)

|Sovereign since 2022

|{{age|1948|11|14}}

= Royal Companion =

class="wikitable" style="width:100%; background:white; border:#01796f solid;"

!Name

!Year of appointment

!Present age

!Notes

Catherine, Princess of Wales {{post-nominals|country=GBR|GCVO|CH|sep=,}}

|2024

|{{age|1982|01|09}}

|First Royal Companion

= Members =

class="wikitable sortable sticky-header" style="width:100%; background:white; border:#01796f solid;"

!Member number{{#tag:ref|The number shown in brackets is the individual's place in the wider sequence of appointment since the Order's inception.|group=n|name=Order}}

!Name

!Known for

!Year of appointment

!Present age

1-(267)

|Norman Tebbit, Baron Tebitt {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Secretary of State for Employment

|1987

|{{age|1931|03|29}}

2-(270)

|Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Secretary of State for the Home Department

| rowspan="2" |1992

|{{age|1934|11|03}}

3-(278)

|Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Secretary of State for Defence

|{{age|1933|06|13}}

4-(282)

|Dame Janet Baker {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|DBE|FRSA|sep=,}}

|Opera singer

|1993

|{{age|1933|08|21}}

5-(287)

|David Owen, Baron Owen {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

|1994

|{{age|1938|07|02}}

6-(289)

|Sir David Attenborough {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OM|GCMG|CH|CVO|CBE|FRS|FSA|FRSA|FLS|FZS|FRSGS|FRSB|sep=,}}

|Television broadcaster and conservationist

| rowspan="2" |1995

|{{age|1926|05|08}}

7-(291)

|Douglas Hurd, Lord Hurd of Westwell {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|PC|sep=,}}

|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Secretary of State for the Home Department

|{{age|1930|03|08}}

8-(294)

|David Hockney {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OM|CH|RA|sep=,}}

|Artist

| rowspan="3" |1997

|{{age|1937|07|09}}

9-(296)

|Michael Heseltine, Baron Heseltine {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Defence

|{{age|1933|03|21}}

10-(297)

|Chris Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KG|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Governor of Hong Kong, Chairman of the BBC Trust, and Chancellor of the University of Oxford

|{{age|1944|05|12}}

11-(299)

|Sir John Major {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KG|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

| rowspan="3" |1998

|{{age|1943|03|29}}

12-(300)

|Bridget Riley {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|sep=,}}

|Artist

|{{age|1931|04|24}}

13-(305)

|General John de Chastelain {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CC|CMM|CD|CH|CStJ|sep=,}}

|Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada) and Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning

|{{age|1937|07|30}}

14-(317)

|Dan McKenzie {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|FRS|sep=,}}

|Geophysicist

| rowspan="2" |2003

|{{age|1942|02|21}}

15-(318)

|David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick {{post-nominals|country=GBR|GCMG|CH|sep=,}}

|Permanent Representative to the United Nations

|{{age|1945|09|28}}

16-(320)

|Dame Judi Dench {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|DBE|FRSA|sep=,}}

|Actress

|2005

|{{age|1934|12|09}}

17-(321)

|Sir Ian McKellen {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|sep=,}}

|Actor

|2007

|{{age|1939|05|25}}

18-(323)

|Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|KC|sep=,}}

|Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition and Secretary of State for the Home Department

|2011

|{{age|1941|07|07}}

19-(324)

|George Young, Baron Young of Cookham {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom

| rowspan="2" |2012

|{{age|1941|07|16}}

20-(325)

|Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|KBE|sep=,}}

|President of World Athletics and Chairman of the British Olympic Association

|{{age|1956|09|29}}

21-(327)

|Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

| rowspan="4" |2013

|{{age|1960|02|22}}

22-(328)

|Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|PC|KC|sep=,}}

|Chancellor of the University of St Andrews and Leader of the Liberal Democrats

|{{age|1941|05|22}}

23-(329)

|Sir Nicholas Serota {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|sep=,}}

|Curator and Director of the Tate

|{{age|1946|04|27}}

24-(331)

|Onora O'Neill, Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|FBA|FMedSci|MRIA|sep=,}}

|President of the British Academy

|83

25-(333)

|Kenneth Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|KC|sep=,}}

|Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for the Home Department

|2014

|{{age|1940|07|02}}

26-(336)

|Lady Mary Peters {{post-nominals|country=GBR|LG|CH|DBE|DStJ|sep=,}}

|Olympic gold medallist and Lord Lieutenant of Belfast

| rowspan="2" |2015

|{{age|1939|7|6}}

27-(339)

|Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|FBA|FMedSci|sep=,}}

|Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

|{{age|1933|5|2}}

28-(341)

|Sir Roy Strong {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|FRSL|sep=,}}

|Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and National Portrait Gallery, London

| rowspan="7" |2016

|{{age|1935|8|23}}

29-(343)

|Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Kelvin {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KT|CH|FRSGS|sep=,}}

|Governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation

|{{age|1944|8|8}}

30-(344)

|Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos {{post-nominals|country=GBR|LG|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Leader of the House of Lords and Secretary of State for International Development

|{{age|1954|3|13}}

31-(345)

|George Osborne {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Chancellor of the Exchequer and First Secretary of State

|{{age|1971|5|23}}

32-(347)

|Sir Richard Eyre {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|sep=,}}

|Director

|{{age|1943|3|28}}

33-(348)

|Dame Evelyn Glennie {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|DBE|sep=,}}

|Musician

|{{age|1965|7|19}}

34-(349)

|Sir Alec Jeffreys {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|FRS|MAE|sep=,}}

|Geneticist

|{{age|1950|1|9}}

35-(353)

|Sir Mark Elder {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|sep=,}}

|Conductor

| rowspan="9" |2017

|{{age|1947|6|2}}

36-(355)

|Sir Paul McCartney {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|MBE|sep=,}}

|Musician

|{{Age|1942|06|18}}

37-(356)

|J. K. Rowling {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|OBE|FRSL}}

|Author

|{{age|1965|7|31}}

38-(357)

|Dame Steve Shirley {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|DBE|FREng}}

|Entrepreneur and philanthropist

|{{age| 1933 |9|16}}

39-(358)

|Delia Smith {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|sep=,}}

|Cook and author

|{{age|1941|6|18}}

40-(359)

|Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|FRS|FBA|FAcSS|sep=,}}

|President of the British Academy and Chief Economist of the World Bank

|{{age|1946|4|22}}

41-(361)

|Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|FRS|FBA|FRSL|sep=,}}

|Broadcaster and Chancellor of the University of Leeds

|{{Age|1939|10|06}}

42-(362)

|Lady Antonia Fraser {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|DBE|FRSL|sep=,}}

|Author

|{{Age|1932|08|27}}

43-(363)

|Margaret MacMillan {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OM}} {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CC}} {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH}} {{post-nominals|country=CAN|FRSL|FRSC|FBA|FRCGS|sep=,}}

|Historian, author and Provost of Trinity College, Toronto

|{{Age|1943|12|23}}

44-(364)

|Richard Henderson {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|FRS|FMedSci|sep=,}}

|Biologist

| rowspan="3" |2018

|{{Age|1945|07|19}}

45-(365)

|Dame Kiri Te Kanawa {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100|ONZ|CH|DBE|AC}}

|Opera singer

|{{Age|1944|03|06}}

46-(366)

|Margaret Atwood {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CC|OOnt}} {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH}} {{post-nominals|country-CAN|FRSC|FRSL}}

|Author

|{{Age|1939|11|18}}

47-(367)

|Patrick McLoughlin, Baron McLoughlin {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|sep=,}}

|Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State for Transport

| rowspan="3" |2019

|{{Age|1957|09|30}}

48-(368)

|Sir Elton John {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|sep=,}}

|Musician

|{{Age|1947|03|25}}

49-(369)

|Sir Keith Thomas {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|FBA|FLSW|FRHistS|sep=,|size=100}}

|Historian and President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford

|{{Age|1933|01|02}}

50-(370)

|Sir Paul Smith {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|RDI|sep=,}}

|Fashion designer

| rowspan="2" |2020

|{{Age|1946|07|05}}

51-(371)

|Sir David Chipperfield {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|CBE|RA|RDI|RIBA|sep=,|size=100|HRSA}}

|Architect

|{{Age|1953|12|18}}

52-(372)

|Sir Paul Nurse {{postnominals|country=GBR|OM|CH|FRS|FMedSci|HonFREng|HonFBA|MAE|sep=,}}

|Geneticist and Nobel Laureate

|2021

|{{Age|1949|01|25}}

53-(374)

|Sir Quentin Blake {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|CBE|FCSD|FRSL|RDI}}

|Illustrator

| rowspan="4" |2022

|{{age|1932|12|16}}

54-(375)

|Sir Salman Rushdie {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|FRSL}}

|Author

|{{age|1947|06|19}}

55-(376)

|Dame Marina Warner {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|DBE|FRSL|FBA}}

|Author

|{{age|1946|11|09}}

56-(377)

|Sir Michael Marmot {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|FRCP|FFPM|FMedSci|FBA}}

|Academic

|{{age|1945|01|26}}

57-(379)

|Sir Bill Cash {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|sep=,}}

|Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales

| rowspan="5" |2023

|{{age|1940|05|10}}

58-(380)

|Sir John Bell {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GBE|CH|FRS|FMedSci|FREng}}

|President of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research

|{{age|1952|07|01}}

59-(381)

|Ian McEwan {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|CBE|FRSA|FRSL}}

|Author

|{{age|1948|06|21}}

60-(382)

|Dame Anna Wintour {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|DBE}}

|Media executive

|{{age|1949|11|3}}

61-(383)

|Dame Shirley Bassey {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|DBE}}

|Singer

|{{age|1937|01|8}}

62-(385)

|Gordon Brown {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|PC|HonFRSE|sep=,}}

|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

|rowspan=2|2024

|{{age|1951|02|20}}

63-(386)

|Sir Kazuo Ishiguro {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|OBE|FRSA|FRSL|sep=,}}

|Novelist and screenwriter

|{{age|1954|11|8}}

|Vacant following the death of Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead on 23 April 2024

|Vacant following the death of Dame Maggie Smith on 27 September 2024

= Honorary Members =

class="wikitable" style="width:100%; background:white; border:#01796f solid;"

!Member number

!Name

!Known for

!Year of appointment

!Present age

1-(261)

|Amartya Sen {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|FBA}}

|Economist

|2000

|{{age|1933|11|03}}

Notes

References

External links

[https://honours.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/about/orders-and-medals/#companion The Order of the Companions of Honour] – UK Cabinet Office
[https://www.centralchancery.org.uk/orders-of-chivalry/additional-orders-of-chivalry/ Additional Orders] – Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
[https://www.gov.uk/honours/types-of-honours-and-awards The British honours system] – UK Government
[https://www.royal.uk/the-king-and-honours The King and Honours] – Royal Household website

Companions of Honour, Order of the

Category:Awards established in 1917

Category:Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom

Order of the Companions of Honour

Composition

Insignia

Current members

= Sovereign =

= Royal Companion =

= Members =

= Honorary Members =

See also

Notes

References

External links