Orders of Chivalry

The King is Sovereign of all the British Orders of Chivalry, each of which is directly associated with a chapel where its members have their stalls. Such chapels exist within several major churches including St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey in London and St Giles’ in Edinburgh. St George’s, Windsor is associated with two such chivalric orders.

The Royal Family and the Order of the Garter

The King is Sovereign of the Order of the Garter, and each June he presides over the annual Ceremony of the Order. This comprises a luncheon in the Waterloo Chamber followed by an afternoon service in the chapel. The investiture of any new Knights takes place in the Garter Throne Room before the luncheon and they are formally installed within their place in the quire during the chapel service.

The late Queen Elizabeth II was declared a Lady of the Garter on 11 November 1947, a few days before her wedding to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She succeeded her father as Sovereign on 6 February 1952.

 

 

The other Royal Knights and Ladies in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II have been:

HM Queen Mary, declared 3 June 1910, died 24 March 1953

HRH The Duke of Windsor, nominated 10 June 1911, died 28 May 1972

HRH The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, 31 March 1921, died 10 June 1974

HM Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother) 14 December 1936, died 30 March 2002

HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 19 November 1947

HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, 26 July 1958 (invested and installed 1968)

HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, 9 October 1985

HRH The Princess Anne (The Princess Royal) 23 April 1994. (Some say 13 June 1994)

HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 23 April 1997

HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy, 23 April 2003

HRH The Duke of York, 23 April 2006

HRH The Earl of Wessex, 23 April 2006

HRH Prince William of Wales, 23 April 2008

The Royal Family and the Royal Victorian Order

The Royal Victorian Order, which was founded by Queen Victoria on 21 April 1896 as a way of rewarding outstanding personal service.

The Chapel of the Order is the Savoy Chapel in London, which is small. Therefore The Queen decided to hold a service of the Order every four years at St George’s Chapel with a reception afterwards for holders of the order and medals. Such services have been held in 1978, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019.

The following members of the Royal Family hold the

Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) today:

HM The Queen, Sovereign since 6 February 1952

HRH The Duke of Kent, 25 December 1960

HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy, 25 December 1960

HRH The Duke of Gloucester, 1 January 1974

HRH The Princess Royal, 15 August 1974 (Grand Master from 2007)

HRH The Duchess of Kent, 9 June 1977

HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, 23 June 1989

HRH Prince Michael of Kent, 2 June 2003

HRH The Countess of Wessex, 20 January 2010

HRH The Duke of York, 21 February 2011

HRH The Earl of Wessex, 10 March 2011

HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, 9 April 2012

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, 29 April 2019

The King's Free Chapel. The Chapel of the Most Honourable and Noble Order of the Garter. The Chapel of the College of St George.