Page of Honour

{{Short description|UK Royal Household ceremonial position}}

File:State Opening Pages of Honour 2024.jpg]]

A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The only physical activity involved is usually carrying the long train of the Sovereign's robes. This position is distinct from that of a page in the Royal Household, which is the senior rank of uniformed staff.

Pages of Honour participate in major ceremonies involving the British monarch, including coronations and the State Opening of Parliament. It is usually a distinction granted to teenage sons of members of the nobility and gentry, and especially of senior members of the Royal Household.

Livery

Pages of Honour in England wear a scarlet frock coat with gold trimmings, a white satin waistcoat, white breeches and hose, white gloves, black buckled shoes and a lace cravat and ruffles. A sword is also worn with the outfit and a feathered three-cornered hat is provided.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/dressinsigniawor00greauoft#page/8/mode/2up |title=Dress and insignia worn at His Majesty's court, issued with the authority of the lord chamberlain |website=Archive.org |access-date=2016-03-30}} In Scotland the outfit is identical, but in green rather than scarlet (as seen periodically at the Thistle Service in Edinburgh).{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/shug17uk/4797328604/in/photostream/ |title=Photo of Page of Honour attending to the Queen in Edinburgh|website=Flickr.com|access-date=2016-03-30}} In Ireland, when Pages of Honour were attendant upon the King, Pages of Honour wore exactly the same uniform as at the English Court, except that the colour was St. Patrick's blue with silver lace.

At coronations, the peers who carry regalia in the procession (and others with particular roles in the service) were expected to have their own pages in attendance. These pages are directed to wear "the same pattern of clothes as the Pages of Honour wear, but of the Livery colour of the Lords they attend... [except that] ...the Royal liveries being scarlet and gold, the use of this combination of colours is restricted to the Pages of Honour, and in the case of a Peer whose colours are scarlet and gold, for scarlet some variant, such as murrey or claret, should be used."Earl Marshal's Regulations (1937) quoted in Mansfield, A., Ceremonial Costume, London: A & C Black, 1980.

Pages of Honour by monarch

=Charles II=

=James II=

=William III=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

  • 1690–1693: Matthew Harvey
  • 1693–1697: George Feilding
  • 1697–1702: Allan Wentworth

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John Brockhuisen appears in the post-mortem accounts of the Board of Green Cloth as a page of honour to William III, but this may be an error, as he appears elsewhere as a pensioner after serving as Queen Mary's page of honour.

=Anne=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

  • 1702–1708: John Gough
  • 1708–1712: Charles Hedges
  • 1712–1714: Thomas Murray

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=George I=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=George II=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=George III=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

  • 1760–1764: Henry Vernon
  • 1764–1772: Thomas Thoroton
  • 1772–1777: Richard Barrington
  • 1777–1782: Henry Hall
  • 1782–1794: Charles West{{cite web|url=http://www.pelhamwest.plus.com/west9-charlesaugustus%20west.htm |title=Lt Colonel Charles Augustus West |website=My West Family |access-date=2023-07-21}}{{cite journal |last1=Hatton |first1=Joseph |last2=Mitford |first2=John |last3=Nichols |first3=John Gough |last4=Parker |first4=John Henry |title=1854.J Lt.-Col. West. — Lt.-Col. Handcock. — G. Meynell, Esq. 193 |journal=The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review |date=1854 |volume=XLII |issue=MDCCCLIV |page=193 |url=https://archive.org/stream/gentlemansmagazi196hatt/gentlemansmagazi196hatt_djvu.txt |access-date=21 July 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Millard |first1=Lorraine |title=Sampson Perry: A Forgotten Radical and his House of Commons Libel Case, 1792 |url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_377455/s33106629_mphil_thesis.pdf?Expires=1690034674&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJKNBJ4MJBJNC6NLQ&Signature=JuaOShZktBBe8H9A1IwQ8NBjwkcXOfNfLvGuzSnx7-EPJIGBhf0oJYJYxDDHwD3LeFgd~SmNS5XO-6CwV71DAdokOrF3pEQRL6H2s4RzGKfJ7WRVfo9ZWARl2HsyuT9X6-bRWJWIqx7ZbUzE7ytlu5UP~xG8k4wDp4~UdRjbjRKf916P9pkh6pmrQMLVusQpdDrVs9u-xM1gL0En~EPIWWPk6sgP37uWwyQXte8Pf4OKW0arvWT7KBxhoGlpXKm-pNn~8Ys86TV-8QY9aHUDwak1CKukRg27c4p0IoY6chyurovMtoXKit~swb8N1OHgVwVlch~pHhQYZiokVzeM2Q__ |website=UQ eSpace |publisher=The University of Queensland Australia |access-date=21 July 2023 |pages=19, 93 |date=2015}}
  • 1794–1802: George Dashwood
  • 1802–1803: Hon. Fitzroy Stanhope
  • 1803–1808: vacant
  • 1808–1809: Henry Buckley
  • 1809–1815: Philip Stanhope
  • 1816–1820: Hon. William Graves

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

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Fifth Page of Honour

  • 1760–1761: John Wrottesley
  • 1773–1781: George Bristow
  • 1781–1782: John Murray

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=George IV=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

  • 1820–1824: Charles Bagot
  • 1824–1830: Arthur William FitzRoy Somerset

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=William IV=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=Victoria=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=Edward VII=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=George V=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=Edward VIII=

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First Page of Honour

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

  • 1936: George Hardinge

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=George VI=

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First Page of Honour

  • 1936–1940: Robert Eliot
  • 1940–1948: None due to the Second World War
  • 1948–1950: Lord Hyde{{London Gazette |issue=38255 |date=6 April 1948 |page=2215 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1950–1952: Hon. Charles Wilson{{London Gazette |issue=38804 |date=3 January 1950 |page=59 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1952: The Earl Erne{{London Gazette |issue=39430 |date=1 January 1952 |page=69 |nolink=yes}}

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Second Page of Honour

  • 1936–1940: The Lord Herschell
  • 1940–1947: None due to the Second World War
  • 1947–1951: James Ogilvy{{London Gazette |issue=38097 |date=14 October 1947 |page=4807 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1951–1952: Jonathan Peel{{London Gazette |issue=39161 |date=2 March 1951 |page=1104 |nolink=yes}}

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Third Page of Honour

  • 1936–1940: George Seymour
  • 1940–1946: None due to the Second World War
  • 1946–1949: Bernard Gordon Lennox{{London Gazette |issue=37524 |date=5 April 1946 |page=1743 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1949–1952: Henry Seymour{{London Gazette |issue=38729 |date=4 October 1949 |page=4750 |nolink=yes}}

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Fourth Page of Honour

  • 1936–1938: George Hardinge
  • 1938–1939: David Stuart
  • 1939–1946: None due to the Second World War
  • 1946–1950: George Paynter
  • 1950–1952: Michael Anson{{London Gazette |issue=39033 |date=3 October 1950 |page=4919 |nolink=yes}}

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=Elizabeth II=

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First Page of Honour

  • 1952–1954: The Earl Erne{{London Gazette |issue=39616 |date=5 August 1952 |page=4199 |supp=y}}
  • 1954–1956: Hon. Anthony Tryon{{London Gazette |issue=40073 |date=12 January 1954 |page=303 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1956–1959: Sir Mark Palmer, 5th Baronet{{London Gazette |issue=40936 |date=27 November 1956 |page=6727 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1959–1962: Hon. Julian Hardinge
  • 1962–1964: Earl of Lewes{{London Gazette |issue=42610 |date=27 February 1962 |page=1681 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1964–1965: Lord Scrymgeour{{London Gazette |issue=43400 |date=4 August 1964 |page=6607 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1965–1967: Douglas Gordon{{London Gazette |issue=43834 |date=7 December 1965 |page=11447 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1967–1970: Christopher Abel Smith{{London Gazette |issue=44362 |date=11 July 1967 |page=7641 |nolink=yes}}{{efn|Son of Sir Alexander Abel Smith and Lady Abel Smith, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, and half-brother of Sir Mark Palmer, 5th Baronet, First Page of Honour 1956–1959.}}
  • 1970–1973: Louis Greig{{London Gazette |issue=45140 |date=30 June 1970 |page=7205 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1973–1976: Lord Leveson{{London Gazette |issue=46848 |date=12 March 1976 |page=3813 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1976–1978: John Ponsonby{{efn|Son of Sir Ashley Ponsonby, 2nd Baronet.}}
  • 1979–1980: Hon. Thomas Coke{{London Gazette |issue=47734 |date=2 January 1979 |page=71 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1981–1983: James Basset{{London Gazette |issue=48481 |date=2 January 1981 |page=77 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1983–1986: Hon. Edward Cecil{{London Gazette |issue=49404 |date=1 July 1983 |page=8697 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1986–1988: Benjamin Hamilton{{London Gazette |issue=50474 |date=1 April 1986 |page=4495 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1988–1990: Hon. Edward Tollemache{{London Gazette |issue=51525 |date=8 November 1988 |page=12509 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1991–1994: Edward Janvrin{{London Gazette |issue=52647 |date=3 September 1991 |page=13427 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1994–1996: Simon Ramsay{{London Gazette |issue=53836 |date=1 November 1994 |page=15279 |nolink=yes}}
  • 1996–1999: Lord Eskdaill
  • 1999–2002: Lord Maltravers
  • 2002–2004: Archibald Young
  • 2004–2008: George FitzRoy
  • 2008–2012: Jack Soames
  • 2012–2015: Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Tim |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/9114281/The-Queen-turns-a-page-for-Viscount-Linleys-son.html |title=The Queen turns a page for Viscount Linley's son |newspaper=Telegraph |date=2012-03-01 |access-date=2016-03-30}}{{efn|Son of David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon.}}
  • 2015: Lachlan Legge-BourkeAppendix to Court Circular, 27 February 2015.{{efn|Great-grandson of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke.}}

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Second Page of Honour

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

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=Charles III=

The pages of honour at the 2023 coronation were:{{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}}

  • Prince George of Wales
  • Lord Oliver Cholmondeley{{efn|name=cholmondeley|Son of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley.}}
  • Nicholas Barclay{{efn|name=barclay|Grandson of Sarah Troughton.}}
  • Ralph Tollemache{{cite web |title=All the Boys Who Served as Pages of Honor at King Charles III's Coronation |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a43603957/pages-of-honor-king-charles-coronation-2023/ |website=Harpers Bazaar |date=6 May 2023 |access-date=6 May 2023}}{{efn|name=tollemache|Son of the Hon. Edward Tollemache.}}

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First Page of Honour

  • 2023: Nicholas BarclayState Opening of Parliament 2023, Court Circular 8 November 2023.{{efn|name=barclay}}
  • 2024: Hon. Guy TryonState Opening of Parliament 2024, Court Circular 17 July 2024.{{efn|name=tryon|Son of Charles Tryon, 4th Baron Tryon}}

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Second Page of Honour

  • 2023: Ralph Tollemache{{efn|name=tollemache}}
  • 2024: Hon. William SackvilleState Opening of Parliament 2024, Court Circular 17 July 2024.{{efn|name=sackville}}

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Third Page of Honour

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Fourth Page of Honour

  • 2023: Lord Oliver Cholmondeley{{efn|name=cholmondeley}}
  • 2024: Ralph TollemacheState Opening of Parliament 2024, Court Circular 17 July 2024.{{efn|name=tollemache}}

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Gallery

File:The Anointing of Queen Alexandra at the Coronation of Edward VII.JPG|Pages of Honour carrying the train of Queen Alexandra during her anointing at the 1902 coronation of Edward VII, depicted in a painting by Laurits Tuxen.

File:King and Queen leaving St. George's Chapel (LOC).jpg|George V and Queen Mary are attended by Pages of Honour in 1911 as they leave St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

File:Sovereign of the Order of the Garter.JPG|Pages of Honour to Elizabeth II in the procession to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, during the annual service of the Order of the Garter, 2006.

File:Coronation Balcony 2023 (King's Pages).jpg|Pages of Honour on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the 2023 coronation ceremony.

File:State Opening Pages of Honour 2023.jpg|Pages of Honour at the 2023 State Opening of Parliament.

Notes

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References

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