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 concep ...

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 North ...

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 ...

members, and the organisation of important royal events."Royal Victorian Order"
''The British Monarchy'' (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, titl ...

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 sym ...

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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. It was instituted with five grades, the two highest of which were Knight Grand Cross (GCVO) and Knight Commander (KCVO), which conferred the status of knighthood on holders (apart from foreigners, who typically received honorary awards not entitling them to the style of a knight).Honorary Knighthood
, ''

Debrett's Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company, publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John Deb ...

'' (accessed on 20 August 2014) Women were not admitted until

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

altered the statutes of the order in 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). No limit was placed on the number of appointments which could be made.McCreery, 2008, pp. 28–29 King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

appointed 43 Knights Grand Cross and 12 Dames Grand Cross between his accession to the throne on 11 December 1936 and his death on 6 February 1952.

Knights and Dames Grand Cross appointed by George VI

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. Source: Galloway et al., 1996, p. 112

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, ) * 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 print, ...

; ) * W. M. Shaw (1906)
''The Knights of England''
volume i (London: Sherratt and Hughes;

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...

br>185192520
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Victorian Order, Appointments by King George VI to the British honours system Royal Victorian Order Royal Victorian