Crown Honours Lists are lists of honours conferred upon citizens of the

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwea ...

s. The awards are presented by or in the name of the reigning monarch, currently King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, or his vice-regal representative.

New Year Honours

Honours have been awarded at New Year since at least 1890, in which year a list of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

's awards was published in ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...

'' on 2 January. There was no honours list at New Year 1902, as a list had been published on the new King's birthday the previous November, but from January 1903 until 1909 a list (including only Indian orders) was published. The other orders were announced on the King's birthday in November. Australia has discontinued New Year Honours, and now announces its honours on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Jack ...

, 26 January, and the

King's Official Birthday The King's Official Birthday (alternatively the Queen's Official Birthday when the monarch is female) is the selected day in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those ...

holiday, in early June.

Australia Day Honours

The

honours were established in 1975 to replace the New Year Honours in Australia. The list is issued on 26 January every year.

Birthday Honours

Birthday Honours are part of the celebration of the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, or their deputy. Known as King's Birthday Honours (Queen's Birthday Honours in times of a female monarch), all royal honours are published in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

'', ''

Canada Gazette The ''Canada Gazette'' (french: Gazette du Canada) is the official government gazette of the Government of Canada. It was first published on October 2, 1841. While it originally published all acts of the Parliament of Canada, it later also pu ...

'', ''Commonwealth of Australia Gazette'' and '' New Zealand Gazette''. The lists are also published in the daily newspapers of each realm. Honours have been awarded on the monarch's birthday since at least 9 November 1901, the birthday of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

(r. 1901–1910). After 1908 the monarch's official birthday was moved to the first, second or third Saturday in June (for the UK). Other Commonwealth realms celebrate the official birthday on different dates (generally late May or early June), and release their honours lists accordingly.

Coronation Honours

Coronation honours are awarded by the sovereign to mark their

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

. The honours are usually those within the sovereign's personal gift.

Jubilee Honours

Jubilee honours are awarded by the sovereign to mark their

jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

. The honours are usually those within the sovereign's personal gift.

Demise Honours

Demise honours are awarded after the death of a member of a royal consort or member of the Royal Family, examples include those Honours awarded after the deaths of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in 2002 and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from ...

in 2021.

Dissolution Honours

The Dissolution Honours List lists recipients of

honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

from the monarch after the

dissolution of Parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assem ...

. It is one of several types of honours list marking various occasions (see below). Typically, the list will include retiring MPs, some of whom are customarily made

life peers In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages Ac ...

. The list may also include knighthoods for others who have served in Parliament, including those who may not want peerages. Appointments to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom are also made.

Prime Minister's Resignation Honours

The Prime Minister's Resignation Honours in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...

are

granted at the behest of an outgoing

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

following his or her resignation. In such a list, a Prime Minister may ask the monarch to bestow

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

s, or other lesser honours, on any number of people of his or her choosing. At times, the appointments created controversy: for example the

1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours The 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were announced on 27 May 1976 to mark the resignation of the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. The list of resignation honours became known satirically as the "Lavender List". Controversy The list cau ...

, also known as "the Lavender List", about which

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

produced a docudrama. An earlier scandal over

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

's 1922 Dissolution Honours list resulted in the

Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 The Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that makes the sale of peerages or any other honours illegal. The act was passed by the Parliament in the wake of David Lloyd George's 1922 cash-fo ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

did not issue a list, apparently because of the "

Cash for Honours The Cash-for-Honours scandal (also known as Cash for Peerages, Loans for Lordships, Loans for Honours or Loans for Peerages) was a political scandal in the United Kingdom in 2006 and 2007 concerning the connection between political donations an ...

" scandal.

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

did not publish a resignation honours list either, but a dissolution list was issued on his advice (to similar effect).

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

revived the practice in his 2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours published on 4 August following his July resignation.

Bravery Council Honours

Bravery council honours lists recipients of Australian bravery honours. The lists are issued twice a year, in March and August.

Special Honours

Special honours are lists issued at random points throughout the year. Australia and the United Kingdom both issue Special honours.

References

{{Canadian Honours System British honours system 1890 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1890 1908 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1908