Order of the British Empire

"CBE" and "OBE" redirect here. For other uses, seeCBE (disambiguation)andOBE (disambiguation).

Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
CBE neck decoration (in civil division)
Awarded by themonarch of the United Kingdom
Type	Order of chivalry
Established	1917
Motto	For God and the Empire
Eligibility	British nationals,citizens of theCommonwealth realms,or anyone who has made a significant achievement for the United Kingdom
Awarded for	Prominent national or regional achievements
Status	Currently constituted
Sovereign	Charles III
Grand Master	Queen Camilla
Grades	Knight/Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight/Dame Commander (KBE/DBE) Commander (CBE) Officer (OBE) Member (MBE)
Former grades	Medal of the Order for Gallantry
Precedence
Next (higher)	Royal Victorian Order
Next (lower)	Varies, depending on rank
Military ribbon Civil ribbon

TheMost Excellent Order of the British Empireis a Britishorder of chivalry,rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside thecivil service.It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either aknightif male or adameif female.There is also the relatedBritish Empire Medal,whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.

The order was established on 4 June 1917 byKing George V,who created the order to recognise 'such persons, male or female, as may have rendered or shall hereafter render important services to Our Empire'.Equal recognition was to be given for services rendered in the UK and overseas.Today the majority of recipients are UK citizens, though a number ofCommonwealth realmsoutside the UK continue to make appointments to the order.Honorary awards may be made to citizens of other nations of which the order's sovereign is not the head of state.

Current classes

The five classes of appointment to the Order are, from highest grade to lowest grade:

1. Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Crossof the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE)
2. Knight Commander or Dame Commanderof the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE or DBE)
3. Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)
4. Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)
5. Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)

The senior two ranks of Knight or Dame Grand Cross, and Knight or Dame Commander, entitle their members to use the title ofSirfor men orDamefor women before their forename.

History

King George Vfounded the order to fill gaps in theBritish honours system:

• The Orders of theGarter,theThistleandSt Patrickhonoured royals, peers, statesmen and eminent military commanders;
• TheOrder of the Bathhonoured senior military officers and civil servants;
• TheOrder of St Michael and St Georgehonoured diplomats and colonial officials;
• TheOrder of the Star of Indiaand theOrder of the Indian Empirehonoured Indian rulers and British and Indian officials of theBritish Indian Empire;and
• TheRoyal Victorian Order,in the personal gift of the monarch, honoured those who had personally served the royal family.

In particular, George V wished to create an order to honour the many thousands of individuals from across the Empire who had served in a variety of non-combat roles during theFirst World War.

From its foundation the order consisted of five classes (GBE, KBE/DBE, CBE, OBE and MBE) and was open to both women and men; provision was also made for conferring honorary awards on foreign recipients.At the same time, alongside the order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. The first investiture took place atIbrox Stadium,as part of a royal visit to the Glasgow shipyards, with the appointment ofLord Strathclydeas a GBE (in recognition of his role as chairman of the Scottish War Savings Committee) and the award of medal of the order to Lizzie Robinson, a munitions worker.

MBE (civil division) as awarded in 1918

The order had been established primarily as a civilian award; in August 1918, however, not long after its foundation, a number of awards were made to serving naval and military personnel. Four months later, a 'Military Division' was added to the order, to which serving personnel would in future be appointed.The classes were the same as for the Civil Division (as it was now termed), but military awards were distinguished by the addition of a central vertical red stripe to the purple riband of the civil awards. In 1920 appointment as an MBE 'for an act of gallantry' was granted for the first time, to Sydney Frank Blanck Esq, who had rescued an injured man from a burning building containing explosives.

In December 1922 the statutes of the order were amended; there having been a large number of awards for war work prior to this date, these amended statutes placed the order on more of a peacetime footing.For the first time numbers of appointments were limited, with the stipulation that senior awards in the Civil Division were to outnumber those in the Military Division by a proportion of six to one.Furthermore appointments in the civil division were to be divided equally between UK and overseas awards.

With regard to the Medal of the Order (but not the order itself), a distinction was made in 1922 between awards 'for gallantry' and awards 'for meritorious service' (each being appropriately inscribed, and the former having laurel leaves decorating the clasp, the latter oak leaves).In 1933 holders of the medal 'for gallantry', which had come to be known as theEmpire Gallantry Medal,were given permission to use the postnominal letters EGM (and at the same time to add a laurel branch emblem to the ribbon of the medal); however, in 1940, awards of the EGM ceased and all holders of the medal were instructed to exchange it for a new and more prestigious gallantry award: theGeorge Cross.In 1941, the medal of the order 'for meritorious service' was renamed theBritish Empire Medal,and the following year its recipients were granted the right to use the postnominal letters BEM.During the war, the BEM came to be used to recognise acts of bravery which did not merit the award of a George Cross orGeorge Medal,a use which continued until the introduction of theQueen's Gallantry Medalin 1974.

Examples of insignia of the order (1937 pattern). Top to bottom: KBE or CBE (military) badge and riband, GBE star, KBE/DBE star, MBE (civil) and OBE (military) badges and ribands.

The designs of insignia of the order and medal were altered in 1937, prior to thecoronation of King George VI,'in commemoration of the reign of King George V and Queen Mary, during which the Order was founded'.The figure of Britannia at the centre of the badge of the order was replaced with an image of the crowned heads of the late King and Queen Mary, and the words 'Instituted by King George V' were added to the reverse of the medal. The colour of theribandwas also changed: twenty years earlier, prior to the order's establishment, Queen Mary had made it known that pink would be her preferred colour for the riband of the proposed new order, but, in the event, purple was chosen.Following her appointment asGrand Masterof the order in 1936 a change was duly made and since 9 March 1937 the riband of the order has been 'rose pink edged with pearl grey’ (with the addition of a vertical pearl grey stripe in the centre for awards in the military division).

From time to time the order was expanded: there was an increase in the maximum permitted number of recipients in 1933, and a further increase in 1937. During the Second World War, as had been the case during and after World War I, the number of military awards was greatly increased; between 1939 and 1946 there were more than 33,000 appointments to the Military Division of the order from the UK and across the Empire.Recommendations for all appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the King's United Kingdom ministers (recommendations for overseas awards were made by theForeign Office,theColonial Office,theIndia Officeand theDominions Office); but in the early 1940s the system was changed to enable the governments of overseas dominions to make their own nominations; Canada and South Africa began doing so in 1942, followed by Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms.

In May 1957, forty years after the foundation of the order, it was announced thatSt Paul's Cathedralwas to serve as the church of the order, and in 1960 a chapel was dedicated for its use within thecryptof the cathedral.That year,Commonwealthawards made up 40% of all OBEs and MBEs awarded (and 35% of all living recipients of the higher awards).Gradually that proportion reduced as independent states within the Commonwealth established their ownsystems of honours.The last Canadian recommendation for the Order of the British Empire was an MBE for gallantry gazetted in 1966, a year before the creation of theOrder of Canada.On the other hand, theAustralian Honours Systemunilaterally created in 1975 did not achieve bi-partisan support until 1992, which was when Australian federal and state governments agreed to cease Australian recommendations for British honours; the last Australian recommended Order of the British Empire appointments were in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours. New Zealand continued to use the order alongsideits own honoursuntil the establishment of theNew Zealand Order of Meritin 1996.Other Commonwealth realms have continued to use the Order of the British Empire alongside their own honours.

In 1993 the Prime Minister,John Major,instituted areform of the honours systemwith the aim 'that exceptional service or achievement will be more widely recognised; that greater importance will be given to voluntary service; that automatic honours will end; that the distinction between ranks in military operational gallantry awards will cease'.The reforms affected the order at various levels: for example the automatic award each year of a GBE to theLord Mayor of Londonceased; the OBE replaced theImperial Service Orderas an award for civil servants and the number of MBEs awarded each year was significantly increased. As part of these reforms the British Empire Medal stopped being awarded by the United Kingdom;those who would formerly have met the criteria for the medal were instead made eligible for the MBE.

In 2004, a report entitledA Matter of Honour: Reforming Our Honours Systemby aCommonsselect committee recommended phasing out the Order of the British Empire, as its title was "now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of the country's population".The committee further suggested changing the name of the award to the Order of British Excellence, and changing the rank of Commander to Companion (as the former was said to have a "militaristic ring" ), as well as advocating for the abolition of knighthoods and damehoods;the government, however, was not of the opinion that a case for change had been made, and the aforementioned suggestions and recommendations were not, therefore, pursued.

In the 21st century quotas were introduced to ensure consistent representation among recipients across nine categories of eligibility:

• Arts and media
• Community, voluntary and local
• Economy
• Education
• Health
• Parliamentary and political
• Science and technology
• Sport
• State

with the largest proportion of awards being reserved for community, voluntary and local service.

Non-military awards of the British Empire Medal resumed in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded forQueen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

In 2017 the centenary of the order was celebrated with a service at St Paul's Cathedral.

Composition

The order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 858 officers and 1,464 members may be appointed per year. Foreign appointees, as honorary members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the order as full members do. Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British orders of chivalry, with more than 100,000 living members worldwide, there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders.

From time to time, individuals may be promoted to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters.

Sovereign and Grand Master

TheBritish sovereignis the sovereign of the order and appoints all other officers of the order (by convention, on the advice of the governments of the United Kingdom and someCommonwealth realms). The second-most senior officer is theGrand Master(a 'Prince of the Blood Royal, or other exalted personage' appointed by the sovereign, who, by virtue of their appointment, becomes 'the First or Principal Knight Grand Cross of the same Order').The position of Grand Master has been held by the following people:

No.	Portrait	Name (Born–died)	Term of office
			Took office	Left office
1		Edward, Prince of Wales (1894–1972)	4 June 1917	20 January 1936
2		Queen Mary (1865–1953)	27 March 1936	24 March 1953
3		The Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021)	1 June 1953(1953-06-01)	9 April 2021(2021-04-09)
4		Queen Camilla (1947–present)	23 April 2024(2024-04-23)	present

Officers

In addition to the sovereign and thegrand master,the order has six further officers:

• Prelate:Bishop of London,The Rt Hon. & Rt Rev.Dame Sarah MullalyDBE
• Dean:Dean of St Paul's(ex officio), The Very Rev.Andrew Tremlett
• Secretary:Secretary of the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood,Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Segrave
• Registrar:Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service,Simon CaseCVO
• King of Arms: Lieutenant GeneralSir Simon MayallKBECB
• Lady Usher of the Purple Rod:Dame Amelia FawcettDBECVO

At its foundation the order was served by three officers: the King of Arms, the Registrar & Secretary and the Gentleman Usher of the Purple Rod. In 1922 the Prelate was added, and the office of Registrar was separated from that of Secretary: the former was to be responsible for recording all proceedings connected with the order, issuing warrants under the seal of the order and making arrangements for investitures, while the latter (at that time thePermanent Secretary to the Treasury) was responsible for collecting and tabulating the names of those who were to receive an award.The office of Dean was added in 1957.

TheKing of Armsis not a member of theCollege of Arms,as are many otherheraldicofficers; and theLady Usher of the Purple Roddoes not – unlike theOrder of the Garterequivalent, theLady Usher of the Black Rod– perform any duties related to theHouse of Lords.

Commonwealth awards

Countries making recommendations to the Order of the British Empire (2020)

Main article:Orders, decorations, and medals of the Commonwealth realms

Since the Second World War, severalCommonwealth realmshave established their own national system of honours and awards and have created their own unique orders, decorations and medals. A number, though, continue to make recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire. In 2024 appointments to the order were made by the governments of:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• The Bahamas
• Belize
• Cook Islands
• Grenada
• Papua New Guinea
• Saint Christopher and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Solomon Islands

Honorary awards

Most members of the order are citizens of the United Kingdom or Commonwealth realms that use the UK system of honours and awards. In addition, honorary awards may be made to citizens of nations where the monarch is nothead of state;these permit use of post-nominal letters, but not the title ofSirorDame.Honorary appointees who later become a citizen of a Commonwealth realm can convert their appointment from honorary to substantive, and they then enjoy all privileges of membership of the order, including use of the title ofSirandDamefor the senior two ranks of the Order. (An example of the latter is Irish broadcasterTerry Wogan,who was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order in 2005, and on successful application for British citizenship, held alongside his Irish citizenship, was made a substantive member and subsequently styled as Sir Terry Wogan).

Gallantry awards

A silver oak-leaf emblem denoted an award made 'for gallantry' between 1958 and 1974.

Although initially intended to recognise meritorious service, the order began to also be awarded for gallantry. There were an increased number of cases in the Second World War for service personnel and civilians including the merchant navy, police, emergency services and civil defence, mostly MBEs but with a small number of OBEs and CBEs. Such awards were for gallantry that did not reach the standard of theGeorge Medal(even though, as appointments to an order of chivalry, they were listed before it on theOrder of Wear.In contrast to awards for meritorious service, which usually appear without a citation, there were often citations for gallantry awards, some detailed and graphic.From 14 January 1958, these awards were designated Commander, Officer or Member of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry.

Any individual made a member of the order for gallantry after 14 January 1958 wears an emblem of two crossed silver oak leaves on the same ribbon as the badge, with a miniature version on the ribbon bar when worn alone. When the ribbon only is worn the emblem is worn in miniature.It could not be awardedposthumously,and was replaced in 1974 with theQueen's Gallantry Medal(QGM). If recipients of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry received promotion within the order, whether for gallantry or otherwise, they continued to wear also the insignia of the lower grade with the oak leaves;however, they used only the post-nominal letters of the higher grade.

Insignia

• Badges and ribands of the Order of the British Empire (1937-present)
• 
  Obverse (left) and reverse of the MBE badge and riband (civil division)
• 
  MBE badge as awarded to a female recipient (civil division)
• 
  OBE badge and riband (military division)
• 
  CBE badge and riband (military division)

When the order was founded in 1917, badges, ribands and stars were appointed for wear by recipients. In 1929 mantles, hats and collars were added for recipients of the highest class of the order (GBE). The designs of all these items underwent major changes in 1937.

Badge

The badge is worn by all members of the order; the size, colour and design depends on the class of award. The badge for all classes is in the form of acrosspatonce(having the arms growing broader and floriated toward the end) with a medallion in the centre, the obverse of which bears a crowned image ofGeorge VandQueen Marywithin a circlet bearing the motto of the Order; the reverse bears George V's Royal and Imperial Cypher. (Prior to 1937 Britannia was shown within the circlet.) The size of the badges varies according to rank: the higher classes have slightly larger badges. The badges of Knights and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames Commander, and Commanders are enamelled, with pale blue crosses, crimson circlets and a gold central medallion. Officers' badges are plain silver-gilt, while those of Members are plain silver.

Riband

From 1917 until 1937, the badge of the order was suspended on a purple ribbon, with a red central stripe being added for the military division in 1918. Since 1937, the ribbon has been rose-pink with pearl-grey edges (with the addition of a pearl-grey central stripe for the military division). Knights and Dames Grand Cross wear it on a broad riband or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip. Knights Commander and male Commanders wear the badge from a ribbon around the neck; male Officers and Members wear the badge from a ribbon on the left chest; female recipients other than Dames Grand Cross (unless in military uniform) normally wear it from a bow on the left shoulder.

Star

An oval eight-pointed star is worn, pinned to the left breast, by Knights and Dames Grand Cross; Knights and Dames Commander wear a smaller star composed of 'four equal points and four lesser'.The star is not worn by the more junior classes. Prior to 1937 each star had in the centre a gold medallion with a figure of Britannia, surrounded by a crimsoncircletinscribed with the motto of the order ('For God and the Empire'); since 1937 the effigies of King George V and Queen Mary have been shown within the circlet.

• Badges and ribands of the Order of the British Empire (1917-1937)
• 
  MBE badge as awarded to a female recipient (civil division)
• 
  MBE badge and riband (military division)
• 
  OBE badge and riband (military division)
• 
  KBE badge, riband and star (military division)

Mantles and collars

In 1929, to bring the order into line with the other orders of chivalry, members of the first class of the order (GBE) were provided with mantles, hats and collars.

• Themantleis a cloak-like garment of rose pink satin lined with pearl-grey silk (prior to 1937 it was of purple satin). On the left side is a representation of the star of the order (as pictured below).
• Initially a purple plumed hat was also provided to be worn with the mantle; in 1937 the colour of the hat was changed to black.
• Thecollaris made of gold. It consists of six medallions depicting the Royal Arms, alternating with six medallions depicting the Royal and Imperial Cypher of George V (GRI,which stands for "Georgius Rex Imperator"). The medallions are linked with gold cables depicting 'sea-lions' and crowns. When collars are worn the badge is suspended from the collar.

Only Knights/Dames Grand Cross wear these elaborate vestments; the hat is now rarely, if ever, worn. Use of the mantle is limited to important occasions (such as quadrennial services andcoronations). The mantle is always worn with the collar. Although the mantle was introduced in 1929, very few mantles would have been produced prior to the 1937 design changes, as there were few occasions for wearing them in the intervening years.

On certain days designated by the sovereign, known as "collar days",members attending formal events may wear the order's collar over their military uniform, formal day dress, evening wear or robes of office.

Collars are returned upon the death of their owners, but other insignia may be retained.

The six office-holders of the order wear pearl-grey mantles lined with rose-pink, having on the right side a purple shield charged with the roundel from the badge.Each of these office-holders wears a unique badge of office, suspended from a gold chain worn around the neck.

• Knight and Dame Grand Cross insignia
• 
  Mantle worn by Knights and Dames Grand Cross (GBE)
• 
  Close-up of the Star on the mantle
• 
  Collar, badge and Star of a Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order
• 
  Broad riband and badge of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order

TheBritish Empire Medalis made of silver. On the obverse is an image of Britannia surrounded by the motto, with the words "For Meritorious Service" at the bottom; on the reverse is George V's Imperial and Royal Cypher, with the words "Instituted by King George V" at the bottom. The name of the recipient is engraved on the rim. This medal is nicknamed "the Gong",and comes in both a full-sized and miniature versions – the latter for formal white-tie and informal black-tie occasions.

Alapel pinfor everyday wear was first announced at the end of December 2006, and is available to recipients of all levels of the order, as well as to holders of theBritish Empire Medal.The pin design is not unique to any level. The pin features the badge of the order, enclosed in a circle of ribbon of its colours of pink and grey. Lapel pins must be purchased separately by a member of the order.The creation of such a pin was recommended inSir Hayden Phillips' review of the honours system in 2004.

Order of the British Empireribbon bars

	Civil	Military
1917–1935
Since 1936

Chapel

Chapel of the Order in thecryptofSt Paul's Cathedral(photographed in 2013). The banners are those of theSovereign(right) and of theGrand Master(left) of the Order as they were then in office.

The Chapel of the Order of the British Empire is inSt Paul's Cathedral.It occupies the far eastern end of the cathedral crypt and was dedicated in 1960. The only heraldic banners normally on display in the chapel are those of theSovereign of the Order of the British Empireand of theGrand Master of the Order of the British Empire.Rather than using this chapel, the Order now holds its great services upstairs in the nave of the cathedral. In addition to the Chapel of the Order of the British Empire, St Paul's Cathedral also houses the Chapel ofThe Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George.Religious services for the whole Order are held every four years; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services.

Precedence and privileges

See also:Order of precedence in England and Wales

Knights, Dames and Commanders of theOrdermay display itscircletaround (and suspend itsBadgebelow) theircoat of arms.

Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander prefixSir,and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commander prefixDame,to their forenames.Wives of Knights may prefixLadyto their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Knights or spouses of Dames. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Male clergy of theChurch of Englandor theChurch of Scotlanddo not use the titleSir(unless they were knighted before being ordained) as they do not receive theaccolade(they are not dubbed "knight" with a sword), although they do append thepost-nominal letters;dames do not receive the accolade, and therefore female clergy are free to use the titleDame.

Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal GBE; Knights Commander, KBE; Dames Commander, DBE; Commanders, CBE; Officers, OBE; and Members, MBE. The post-nominal for the British Empire Medal is BEM.

Members of all classes of the order are assigned positions in theorder of precedence.Wives of male members of all classes also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander; relatives of Ladies of the Order, however, are not assigned any special precedence. As a general rule, only wives and children of male recipients are afforded privileges.

Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to be grantedheraldic supporters.They may, furthermore, encircle their arms with a depiction of thecirclet(a circle bearing the motto) and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of the latter. Knights and Dames Commander and Commanders may display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet.

Current knights and dames grand cross

Sovereign and Grand Master

Name	Year of appointment	Present age
The King(ex officio)	Sovereign since 2022	75
The QueenLG,LT,ONZ,GCVO,GBE,CSM,CD,PC	2024	77

Knights and Dames Grand Cross

Military rank (if any)	Name	Known for	Year of appointment	Present age
	Sir Christopher LeaverGBE,KStJ,JP	Lord Mayor of London	1981	86
	Sir Anthony JolliffeGBE,KStJ,DL	Lord Mayor of London	1982	86
	Sir Alexander GrahamGBE	Lord Mayor of London	1990	85
Air Chief Marshal	Sir Patrick HineGCB,GBE	Joint Commander British Forces Gulf War	1991	92
	Sir Brian JenkinsGBE,KStJ	Lord Mayor of London	1991	88
Air Chief Marshal	Sir Bill WrattenGBE,CB,AFC	Air Officer Commanding-in-ChiefRAF Strike Command	1998	85
	Sir Stephen BrownGBE,PC	President of the Family Division	1999	99
Air Chief Marshal	Sir Anthony BagnallGBE,KCB,FRAeS	Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff	2002	79
	Sir Michael PerryGBE,FRSA	Chairman of theSenior Salaries Review Body	2002	90
	Sir Ronnie FlanaganGBE,QPM	Chief Constableof thePolice Service of Northern Ireland	2002	75
	The Baroness Butler-SlossGBE,PC	President of the Family Division	2005	91
General	Sir Timothy Granville-ChapmanGBE,KCB	Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff	2011	77
	The Lord King of LothburyKG,GBE,DL,FBA	Governor of the Bank of England	2011	76
	Sir John ParkerGBE,FREng	President of theRoyal Academy of Engineering	2012	82
	The Baroness HaymanGBE,PC	Lord Speaker of the House of Lords	2012	75
	Sir Keith MillsGBE,DL	Deputy Chairman of theLondon Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games	2013	74
	Sir John BellGBE,CH,FRS,FMedSci	President of theOffice for Strategic Coordination of Health Research	2015	72
Air Chief Marshal	The Lord PeachKG,GBE,KCB,DL	Chief of the Defence StaffandChair of the NATO Military Committee	2016	68
	Sir Ian WoodKT,GBE	Businessman and philanthropist	2016	82
	Sir Cyril ChantlerGBE,FRCP,FRCPCH,FMedSci	Paediatricnephrologist	2017	85
	Sir Keith PetersGBEFRSFMedSciFRCPFRCPEFRCPathFLSW	Regius Professor of Physicat theUniversity of Cambridge	2018	86
	Sir Craig ReedieGBE	President of theWorld Anti-Doping Agencyand Chairman of theBritish Olympic Association	2018	83
	Sir Christopher GreenwoodGBE,CMG,KC	Judge of theInternational Court of Justice	2018	69
	The Lady HigginsGBE,KC	President of the International Court of Justice	2018	87
	Sir Michael BurtonGBE,KC	President of theInvestigatory Powers Tribunal	2019	77
	The Earl HoweGBE,PC	Deputy Leader of the House of LordsandMinister of State for Defence	2021	73
	Dame Sue IonGBE,FRS,FREng,FIMMM	Engineer and Member of theNational Academy of Engineering	2022	69
	Sir Partha DasguptaGBE,FRS,FBA	Economist and Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at theUniversity of Cambridge	2023	81
	Dame Hermione LeeGBE,FBA,FRSL	Biographer and President ofWolfson College, Oxford	2023	76
	The Baroness BeckettGBE,PC	Politician andSecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs	2024	81
	Dame Carol BlackGBE,FRCP	Rheumatologist and Chair of theBritish Library	2024	84
	Sir William BeaumontGBE,DL	Chairman ofWorld Rugby	2024	72
	Sir James McDonaldGBE,FRSE,FREng,FInstP,FIET	Engineer and Principal and Vice-Chancellor of theUniversity of Strathclyde	2024	67
	Sir Ridley ScottGBE	Filmmaker and director	2024	86
	Dame Jenny AbramskyGBE	Journalist, Chancellor of theUniversity of East Angliaand Director of Audio and Music at theBritish Broadcast Corporation	2024	77
	The Lord EthertonGBE,KC,PC	Master of the RollsandChancellor of the High Court	2024	73

Honorary Knights and Dames Grand Cross

Country	Name	Office when appointed	Year of appointment	Present age	Notes
Jordan	Taher MasriGBE	28thPrime Minister of Jordan	1988	82
Hungary	Zsigmond JáraiGBE	7thMinister of Finance of Hungary	1999	72
United States	George MitchellGBE	8thChancellor of the Queen's University, Belfast	1999	91
Italy	Nicola MancinoGBE	8thActing President of Italy	2000	92
Italy	Luciano ViolanteGBE	10thPresident of the Chamber of Deputies	2000	82
India	Ratan TataGBE,AO	5th Chairman ofTata Group	2014	86

Star of a Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire

Forfeiture

Only the monarch can annul an honour. TheHonours Forfeiture Committeeconsiders cases and makes recommendations for forfeiture. An individual can renounce their honour by returning the insignia to Buckingham Palace and by ceasing to make reference to their honour, but they still hold the honour unless and until annulled by the monarch.

People who declined Order of the British Empire honours

See also:List of people who have declined a British honour

In 2003,The Sunday Timespublished a list of the people who had rejected the Order of the British Empire, includingDavid Bowie,John Cleese,Nigella Lawson,Elgar Howarth,L. S. Lowry,George Melly,andJ. G. Ballard.In addition, Ballard voiced his opposition to the honours system, calling it "a preposterous charade".

The order has attracted some criticism for its naming having connection with the idea of the now-extinctBritish Empire.Benjamin Zephaniah,a British poet ofJamaicanandBarbadiandescent, publicly rejected appointment as an Officer in 2003 because, he asserted, it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality". He also said that "it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised".

The authorC. S. Lewis(1898–1963) was named on the last list of honours byGeorge VIin December 1951. Despite being amonarchist,he declined so as to avoid association with any political issues.

In 2019,John Oliverturned down an offer of an OBE, which would have been part of theQueen's New Year's Honourslist.

The Beatleswere appointed Members in 1965:John Lennonjustified his investiture by comparing military membership in the Order: "Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE [status] received theirs for heroism in the war – for killing people... We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more". Lennon later returned his MBE insignia on 25 November 1969, as part of his ongoing peace protests.Other criticism centres on the view that many recipients of the Order are being rewarded with honours for simply doing their jobs; critics say that the Civil Service and Judiciary receive far more orders and honours than leaders of other professions.

Chin Peng,a veteran guerrilla fighter of theMalayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army,was appointed as an Officer for his role in fighting against theJapanese occupation of MalayaduringWorld War II,in close co-operation with the British commandoForce 136.Several years after WWII, his OBE membership was withdrawn by the British government (and became undesirable to Chin Peng himself) when the Communist leader headed his party's guerrilla insurgency against the British Empire during theMalayan Emergency.

See also

• Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom– the British honours system
• List of knights grand cross of the Order of the British Empire
• List of dames grand cross of the Order of the British Empire
• List of honorary British knights and dames
• United Kingdom order of precedence
• Honours Committee
• Roger Willoughby,For God and the Empire. The Medal or the Order of the British Empire, 1917-1922(Savannah Publications, London, 2012) ISBN 1 902366 53 0

Further reading

• Galloway, Peter(1996).The Order of the British Empire.Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.ISBN978-0-907605-65-2.
• Hood, Frederic (1967).The Chapel of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.With a foreword byPrince Philip.
• Weatherly, Cecil (1911)."Knighthood and Chivalry".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 15 (11th ed.). London: Cambridge University Press. pp. 851–867.
• Statutes of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire(PDF).London: The Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. 1995. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 7 March 2023.

External links

• Order of the British Empire– official website of the British Monarchy
• The Honours system– UK Government
• Queen's Birthday and New Year honours–The London Gazette,lists recipients of honours
• The Order of the British Empire centenary- historical overview by the Gazette
• "The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire" (2002)–Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society
• "Order of Precedence in England and Wales", Velde, F. R. (2003)– Heraldica.org
• Search recommendations for the Order of the British Empire on the UK National Archives' website
• The Chapel of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – OBE Chapel Exterior detail– JPEG image, IanMcGrawPhotos.co.uk