Ladies were first admitted as full members of the Order of the Garter in 1987, almost 540 years after the founding of the Order. The 1987 Statute effecting this change first refers to an earlier statute of 1954, which states that the Order comprises the Sovereign and twenty-five Knights Companion and “certain others” (additional royal members and hereditary rulers of other states). The new Statute then adds:

And whereas We the Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter are desirous of evincing in a fitting manner Our abiding sense of the virtues and worth of Ladies of eminence known to Us by making such of them as We are pleased to choose and select to be Companions of Our said Most Noble Order Now therefore in order the better to effect Our said purpose and by virtue of the power inherent in Us as Sovereign of Our said   Most Noble Order We do ordain and declare that henceforth the Companions of Our said Most Noble Order shall be those of Our Subjects both Knights and Ladies as We or Our Successors are pleased to declare to be Knights Companions or Ladies Companions …

The Statute goes on to state that a female Companion of the Order will have the title “Lady” and the designation “L.G.” after her name.

Prior to 1987, female dignitaries could be admitted as ‘Ladies of the Garter’ In 1901, when King Edward VII revived the custom of appointing Ladies of the Garter and conferred the honour on Queen Alexandra, she was allocated a stall over which her banner was set up.  Nine other Ladies of the Garter followed, the most recent being the present Queen’s cousin, Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (2003). However, these Ladies were not true Companions of the Order and do not have stall plates affixed to the stalls they occupied in St George’s Chapel. In contrast, the three Ladies Companion admitted since the 1987 Statute – Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk (1990), Baroness Thatcher (1995) and Lady Soames (2005) – all have stall plates in the Quire.

Jill Hume (Archives Volunteer)

Banners in the Quire, with the Chrysanthemum of Hirohito 3rd on the left, after its restoration in 1971

When Edward III founded the Order of the Garter, the oldest surviving order of chivalry in the world, in or about 1348, there is evidence to suggest that he originally intended it to comprise twenty-four Knights. However, by 1349/50 membership of the Order became fixed at twenty-six:  the Monarch and twenty-five Knights appointed by him as his Companions. This number remained unchanged until 1786, when King George III brought in a new category of ‘Supernumerary’ membership to enable his sons (he had nine) and those of his successors to be appointed Garter Knights in addition to the twenty-six.

Amongst the original Founder Knights were some who owed their allegiance to Edward as Lord of Gascony rather than as King of England. They became known as Stranger Knights, to distinguish them from the Subject Knights who were direct subjects of the English Crown. Over the years additional foreign magnates were appointed Stranger Knights in line with the growing prestige of the Order. Until 1813, they formed part of the Companionship of twenty-six. However, in that year George III, wishing to install Alexander I of Russia as an additional Garter Knight, declared that all Stranger Knights should be henceforth classed as Supernumerary.   Since no limit was set on the number of Supernumerary Knights appointed at any one time, George III and his successors could reward and honour as many overseas princes and rulers as they chose. Between 1435 and 2001 one hundred and four Stranger Knights were elected to the Order (whose total membership from 1348 to date has been one thousand and one).  Not all installations took place in person at St George’s Chapel – some were undertaken in England by proxy or were celebrated abroad in the presence of Garter officials.

Sadly Supernumeraries, and indeed any Knight or Lady Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, may be degraded for various reasons. During the First World War, Monarchs of enemy nations, such as Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, had their membership revoked. One of four Japanese Stranger Knights, Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989) had his Garter banner removed from St Georges’ Chapel in 1941, when his allegiance was questioned after Japan joined the Second World War. However, it is also possible for Companions to be restored to the Order, and Emperor Hirohito welcomed his reinstatement by Elizabeth II and the restoration of his banner to the Chapel in 1971. The three other Japanese Stranger Knights elected to the Order of the Garter were Emperors Mutsuhito (installed in 1906 in recognition of the Anglo-Japanese alliance), Yoshihito (installed in 1912) and Akihito (in 1998).

Stefanos Koutroumanidis (Archives volunteer)

Stall plate of Richard Neville

Richard Neville was born in 1400 into one of England’s great noble families.  The Nevilles held sway in the far north-west of the country, whilst the Percys were the dominant force in the far north-east.  There was little love lost, and much rivalry between the two noble dynasties.  Richard was able, ambitious, very well-connected (being a nephew of Henry IV), and blessed with the financial and military resources to further his aims.  He made a good marriage too, wedding Alice Montagu, the earl of Salisbury’s daughter, in 1422.  She gave him ten children, whilst her inheritance was a useful source of cash for him to spend up north.

At first he was solidly loyal to the House of Lancaster and was suitably rewarded.  In 1428 he was created earl of Salisbury, and in 1438, was nominated a knight of the Garter.  He campaigned in France too during the later stages of the Hundred Years War.  But his family’s feud with the Percys was edging England towards civil conflict.  When war came in 1455, Richard threw in his lot with Richard, duke of York, the Yorkist pretender.  Indeed, without Richard Neville’s support, it seems unlikely York could have made a realistic bid for the crown.

By 1456, he was York’s principal lieutenant, and the fortunes of the two men were now intertwined.  If York could succeed in toppling Henry VI and be crowned as Richard III, then Richard Neville could expect lavish reward and high office.  It was not to be.  The two men spent Christmas 1460 at a castle near Wakefield, and intended to dig in for the winter as the Yorkist position in the north was now weak.  But a few days later, on 30 December, they engaged a superior Lancastrian force, a clear tactical error.  York was hacked to death in the fighting, and Neville was captured soon after.  He was taken to Pontefract, where he was lynched by a mob, and his head was later displayed on one of the gates of York.  It was a gruesome nemesis for the man who rebelled against the dynasty which nurtured him, and whose support for the pretender sparked the Wars of the Roses.  It was left to York’s son, Edward, to carry on the fight, and seize the crown as Edward IV in 1461.

Simon Harrison (Archives volunteer)

Stallplate of Charles Brandon, KG

Charles Brandon (1484-1545) was a close personal friend of King Henry VIII who granted him the title of Duke of Suffolk along with many other honours. He was made famous by his great command in the French Campaign of 1513, after which was appointed Knight of the Garter. His stall plate can be seen in the seventh stall on the north side of the Quire in St George’s Chapel. He was also famously known for his marriage to Mary, sister of Henry VIII and widow of Louis XII, King of France. However this royal marriage which took place without the King’s permisson was viewed an offence against royal etiquette. As a result Charles and Mary were banished to the Brandon estates in Suffolk. But the King’s displeaure was quickly forgotten and Brandon advanced to high honour and was successful in becoming Master of the Horse in 1513, as well as receiving many valuable grants of land.

Charles Brandon died of unknown causes and was buried at St Georges Chapel on the King’s wishes, although in his will he had requested to be buried at Tattershall in Lincolnshire. A black marble slab now marks his burial place in the South Quire Aisle, bearing an inscription with his name, title, date of death and marital status. The arms of Brandon and his wife, Mary, are contained in two circles engraved at the top of the ledger stone. The current inscription is the third: previously there have been two others, which are both now non-existent. The first inscription, recorded by Ashmole, had disappeared by 1749 and was replaced by a second, suspected to have been the work of Henry Emlyn. The present inscription was carved in 1947-8.

Layla Holden, Chloe Roach, Mollie White (Windsor Girls’ School)

Arms of Thomas Hollard, 1st Earl of Kent

Thomas Holland, afterwards 1st Earl of Kent, was one of the founder knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

Born around 1314, he fought many times in France during the Hundred Years War, including at the Battle of Sluys and the Siege of Tournai, and was in chief command of the vanguard at the battle of Crécy under the Black Prince. His military achievements meant that he was given important commands including the Captaincy of Calais Castle, guardianship of the Duke of Brittany during his minority, and in September 1360 his most important post yet, that of Edward III’s Captain and Lieutenant in Normandy and France.

In 1340 he had secretly married Edward III’s cousin Joan, the “Fair Maid of Kent”. While he was away fighting, she was forced by her family to marry the better connected William Montagu, Earl of Salisbury. On Thomas’ return, the first marriage was revealed, and the Pope ordered Joan to return to Thomas. This she did, and they had four children together. In 1361, after Thomas’ death, Joan married the Black Prince, and gave birth to a son who would become Richard II.

This image comes from a notebook by Henry Emlyn, architect and supervisor of George III’s restoration of the Chapel [SGC M.172]. Dating from around 1785, this page shows the arms of the Holland family, azure powdered with fleur-de-lis and a lion rampant argent. The crest of the hart lodged, or lying down, and ducally gorged comes from the arms of Joan of Kent.

Eleanor (Assistant Archivist)

The sword of King Edward III

The two-handed sword of Edward III which can be seen in the Chapel hanging in the South Quire Aisle is an impressive reminder of the founder of the College and the Order of the Garter. 6 foot 8 inches long and made to be carried in battle, it formed part of the knightly achievements which would have been offered to the Dean and Canons on his death.

The earliest record of the sword appears in an Inventory of all the Vestments, Ornaments etc of the Chapel, taken in the 8th year of King Richard II [1384], and held in the Bodleian Library. The entry reads:

Gladii cum Galeis

249. Item [iij gladij quorum] vnus Edwardi Regis…

(Translated, Swords with helmets; Item [3 swords of which] one is King Edward’s …)

The sword hangs by a portrait of the King, carrying it piercing the crowns of Scotland and France. The accounts of 1615 [SGC XV.59.32] read “2s 6d – To Noke, for making cleane the Twoe hande Sworde whiche hangith by K: Edward the 3: picture”.

The sword and portrait have clearly been displayed together in the Chapel for almost 400 years.

Eleanor (Assistant Archivist)