The

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

is an

order of knighthood An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades ( 1099–1291) and paired with medieval concept ...

awarded by the sovereign of 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 ...

and several

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

realms. It is granted personally by the monarch and recognises personal service to the monarchy, the Royal Household,

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...

members, and the organisation of important royal events."Royal Victorian Order"
''royal.gov.uk'' (accessed 16 August 2014). The order was officially created and instituted on 23 April 1896 by

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...

under the

Great Seal of the Realm The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom (known prior to the Treaty of Union of 1707 as the Great Seal of England; and from then until the Union of 1801 as the Great Seal of Great Britain) is a seal that is used to sy ...

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 ...

. It was instituted with five grades, ''Knight Grand Cross'' (GCVO), ''Knight Commander'' (KCVO), ''Commander ''(CVO), ''Member (fourth class)'' and ''Member (fifth class)'', the last two of which were abbreviated to MVO. The two highest conferred the status of knighthood on holders; in 1984, the grade of Member (fourth class) was renamed ''Lieutenant ''(LVO), and holders of the fifth grade became ''Members''. Women were not admitted until 1936; those receiving the highest two awards were styled Dames and those grades, when conferred on women, are ''Dame Grand Cross'' and ''Dame Commander'' (DCVO). The order could also be conferred on foreigners, who were typically appointed to honorary grades and were thus not entitled to the styles, such as Sir and Dame, associated with ordinary grades.Honorary Knighthood
, ''debretts.com'' (accessed on 20 August 2014).Knighthood
''royal.gov.uk'' (accessed on 20 August 2014).

Appointed by King Edward VII

The list below is ordered by date of appointment. Full names, styles, ranks and titles are given where applicable, as correct at the time of appointment to the order. Branch of service or regiment details are given in parentheses to distinguish them from offices. The offices listed are those given in the official notice, printed in the ''London Gazette''. Where applicable, the occasion is given that was listed either with the notices or in published material elsewhere, in which case that material is cited. *

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* P. Duckers (2004)
''British Orders and Decorations''
(Princes Risborough: Shire Publications Ltd, ) * P. Galloway, D. Stanley, D. Martin (1996)
''Royal Service''
volume 1 (London: Victorian Publishing, ) * M. H. Massue (1909)
''The Nobilities of Europe''
(London: Melville and Company) * C. McCreery (2008)
''On Her Majesty's Service: Royal Honours and Recognition in Canada''
(Toronto:

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history, biography, politics and arts. Dundurn has about 2500 books in prin ...

; ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Victorian Order, Appointments by King Edward VII to the British honours system Royal Victorian Order Royal Victorian