George Medal And Bar

Not a posthumous VC, but two George Medals basically equates to the same thing.

THE QUEEN HAS AWARDED A SECOND GEORGE MEDAL to a bomb disposal expert killed in Afghanistan last year. This is the first time a second George Medal, known as a Bar, has been awarded in 26 years. Warrant Officer 2nd Class Gary O'Donnell, 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, was killed defusing an improvised explosive device in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on 10 September 2008.

The posthumous award to Warrant Officer O'Donnell, who died whilst attempting to disarm an improvised explosive device, was announced in the presence of his widow Mrs Toni O'Donnell. The George Medal is awarded for acts of great bravery.

WO2 O'Donnell, who at the time of his death already held the George Medal for his work defusing bombs in Iraq, was recommended for the further honour in recognition of his remarkable actions in two separate incidents, in May and July 2008.

On both occasions WO2 O'Donnell - who during his last tour in Afghanistan disposed of more than 50 IEDs - placed himself in immense personal danger in order to protect his comrades.

Commonwealth Note: The George Cross and Medal are no longer awarded to Canadians and Australians. The Queen of both countries replaced the George Cross with the Cross of Valour back in the 1970s, though still retaining the honour as the highest civil decoration, second in order of precedence only to the Victoria Cross. Both the Victoria Cross and the Cross of Valour/George Cross are awarded for acts of great bravery, however in order to qualify for the Victoria Cross, military personnel (or civilans operating under military command), must demonstrate conspicuous acts of bravery in the presence of the enemy.

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New Zealand Restores Knighthoods!

News to swell loyal hearts from the happy plot at the bottom of the Earth.

The Queen receives the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Hon. John Key MP, at Buckingham Palace, 25 November 2008.

This is huge. It is being reported that New Zealand is to restore the rank of Sir and Dame to its honours system nine years after it abolished titles in favour of Republican-style distinctions.

If we called Prime Minister John Key a limousine liberal in the recent past, we do at this moment take it all back. I mean, wow. What a glorious turn of events. Hallelujah for rare political miracles. By George, he did it!

Come on Australia and Canada, do the right thing, and follow New Zealand's lead. If a foreigner like Ted Kennedy is allowed to accept the honour of a knighthood from the Queen, it is only our ancient God-given right as Her Majesty's own subjects to be permitted the same.

Why the fall of Helengrad was a good thing. Happy Commonwealth Day indeed.

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Bring back Dames and Knighthoods

Hat tip to Professor Flint. The New Zealand Herald gets it:

"Much as the honours system is valued, it has never quite recovered from the former Government's decision to abandon titles such as knights and dames. These titles were thought to be redolent of the English class system and not appropriate for an egalitarian country such as New Zealand.

The argument was never wholly convincing. But what seems certain now is that the egalitarian version has not caught on as well as was hoped. Moreover, it is not likely to while the public sense that some appointments are political or simply matters of form. What is needed is a system that is thoroughly independent and that recognises outstanding contributions rather than just time served."

You mean to tell me that all you have succeeded in doing is replacing the English class system with a New Zealand class system? As in there's the political class and then there is everybody else? New Zealand needs to stop acting like a "Politician's Republic".

The only way to free the honours system from political taint is to take it away from the politicians and to put it in the hands of Her Majesty or Her Majesty's representatives. Always and forever.

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W.E.H. Lecky – Brave Critic of the New Age

Five score and five years ago today, October 22, 1903, William Edward Hartpole Lecky passed on from this world. Lecky was a historian, a political philosopher, and a Member of Parliament at Westminster for Dublin University. The new age was rising, and against it stood W.E.H. Lecky. In the words of William Murchison, he chose to write – and fight.


Writes William Murchison further in the introduction to W.E.H. Lecky's Democracy and Liberty:

Democracy was the late Victorian age's great passion – a concept not just to profess but to translate into reality. The democracy professed was less radical than that of the French revolutionaries who, in Burke's day, had cried "Liberty, Fraternity, Equality!" – and then decapitated thousands of their free and equal brethren. Democracy to the Victorians, meant something relatively high-minded – government by the majority for the benefit of the majority. The principle was amiable enough, certainly. It was in the practical application that things began to go wrong, as Lecky and a few others easily discerned. The implications of democracy for good government, for liberty – for precisely the values that democracy was meant to assert – were deeply disturbing.

William Murchison describes Democracy and Liberty further:

The argument of the book is the incompatibility of two concepts which, in the late 20th century, are regarded virtually as twins – democracy and liberty. The one might seem, at first glance, to reinforce and invigorate the other. But it was not so, as Lecky proceeded to establish in detail.

Murchison continues:

What had worked best for Britain, so far as he was concerned, was the electoral system that prevailed from the Reform Bill of 1832 until the Reform Bill of 1867. In 1832, the middle class had been enfranchised. The change had, at the time, split the country asunder, but it had worked. This was because, in Lecky's view, it had admitted to power a class of men solid, trustworthy, educated, and hard-working. Their merits, not their abstract “rights,” qualified them for the franchise. It was different with the millions granted the vote in 1867 and 1884. Sheer numbers was what mainly seemed to commend them as voters.

Murchison goes on:

What Lecky feared was that his country's government would pass out of the hands of gentlemen and “into the hands of professional politicians” – like those to be found in the United States.

Further Murchison writes:

Lecky was concerned, accordingly, that gentlemen should continue to govern. He was concerned especially for the future of the House of Lords, which fast was coming to be regarded as a feudal relic, occupying a “secondary position in the Constitution.” “Man for man, he wrote, “it is quite possible that (the Lords) represents more ability and knowledge than the House of Commons, and its members are certainly able to discuss public affairs in a more single-minded and disinterested spirit.” The peers' “superiority of knowledge” was “very marked.” They were more than ornamental; they contributed, along with the Throne, to the kingdom's “greatness and cohesion.”

Lecky was a Privy Councillor and was bestowed with the Order of Merit.

W.E.H. Lecky blamed the rebellion in the American colonies largely on the encroachments of Parliament on Royal Prerogative.

Of the American Electoral College Lecky wrote:

In this manner it was hoped that the President might be elected by the independent votes of a small body of worthy citizens who were not deeply plunged in party politics. But, as the spirit of party intensified and the great party organisations attained their maturity, this system wholly failed.

Of President Andrew Jackson Lecky wrote:

The modern system of making all posts under the Government, however unconnected with politics, rewards for party services was organised, in 1829, by Andrew Jackson. This President may be said to have completed the work of making the American Republic a pure democracy, which Jefferson had begun. His statue stands in front of the White House at Washington as one of the great men of America, and he assuredly deserves to be remembered as the founder of the most stupendous system of political corruption in modern history.

Of democracy and regulation Lecky wrote:

In our own day, no fact is more incontestable and conspicuous than the love of democracy for authoritative regulation.

Of the House of Commons Lecky wrote:

Of all the forms of government that are possible among mankind, I do not know any which is likely to be worse than the government of a single omnipotent democratic Chamber. It is at least as susceptible as an individual despot to the temptations that grow out of the possession of an uncontrolled power, and it is likely to act with much less sense of responsibility and much less real deliberation. The necessity of making a great decision seldom fails to weigh heavily on a single despot, but when the responsibility is divided among a large assembly, it is greatly attenuated. Every considerable assembly also, as it has been truly said, has at times something of the character of a mob. Men acting in crowds and in public, and amid the passions of conflict and debate, are strangely different from what they are when considering a serious question in the calm seclusion of their cabinets.

Of the worship of majorities Lecky wrote:

He will not, if he is a wise man, be reassured by the prevailing habit, so natural in democracies, of canonising, and almost idolising, mere majorities, even when they are mainly composed of the most ignorant men, voting under all the misleading influences of side-issues and violent class or party passions. The ‘voice of the people,’ as expressed at the polls, is to many politicians the sum of all wisdom, the supreme test of truth or falsehood. It is even more than this: it is invested with something very like the spiritual efficacy with theologians have ascribed to baptism. It is supposed to wash away all sin. However unscrupulous, however dishonest, may be the acts of a party or of a statesman, they are considered to be justified beyond reproach if they have been condoned or sanctioned at a general election. It has sometimes happened that a politician has been found guilty of a grave personal offence by an intelligent and impartial jury, after a minute investigation of evidence, conducted with the assistance of highly trained advocates, and under the direction of an experienced judge. He afterwards finds a constituency which will send him to Parliament, and the newspapers of his party declare that his character is now clear. He has been absolved by ‘the great voice of the people.’ Truly indeed did Carlyle say that the superstitions to be feared in the present day are much less religious than political; and all the forms of idolatry I know none more irrational and ignoble than this blind worship of mere numbers.

Democracy and Liberty, a two-volume work, is indeed refreshing reading, now even more than a century after its publication. We honor the memory of William Edward Hartpole Lecky. May he continue to rest in peace.

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The Queen's Gazillionth Investiture

Her Majesty holds yet another Investiture in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace, 10 October 2008. On duty at the ceremony are members of The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, which was created by Henry VII in 1485.
© Press Association

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Argument 4: Pomp and Ceremony

When it comes to elevated spectacle, the republicans are hopelessly out of their depth.

The Aesthetic Sphere: The lares, penates, processions, titles, ranks and relics of our symbolic Crown hollow the ordinary and lift us from the drudgery of the humdrum.
Relevant Quote: "If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating spectacle, be elevating or be gone." - George F. Will
Related Concepts: Pomp, Pageantry, Patriotism, Circumstance, Heraldry, Ritual, Grandeur, Splendour, Trappings, Symbols.
Previous Posts: In Defence of Pomp; The Decent Draperies of Life; From Honours to Merit Badges

WHEN IT COMES TO ELEVATED SPECTACLE, the only ritual the republicans are any good at is Beating the Retreat. What is their response to this argument, I wonder; that ceremony doesn't matter; that they don't like pomp and pageantry and parades; that knighthoods are uninteresting hangovers; that they don't much care for grandeur in the monarchist mold, because in their opinion the presidential kind is - ahem - superior? Or is it rather that they enjoy the spectacle as much as anyone else, and would seek to preserve as much of it as possible?

Because when it comes to comparing the binding, defining and inspiring power of the institutions of Great Britain, power that is indissolubly linked with the pomp and ceremony of the British Crown, and its associated grandeur, history, honours, titles and ranks; with the embryonic institutions of a shiny new republic, which is without history and devoid of any intrinsic meaning or merit, and which explicitly reject the ties that bind them to their predecessors and counterparts; republicans are dead in the water, and they know it.

Perhaps that is why some have whispered in favour of restoring knighthoods! I have never understood this inclination by some who desire to see the backside of monarchy but want to keep its colours, who don't mind holding onto the titles, heraldry and processions of our inheritance that have been operative throughout our history, yet would gladly see the Royal connection disappear.

This is a critical point, for if the fact and ceremony of the historical and, particularly, the Royal associations are removed and alienated from these institutions, honours and privileges; they shall cease to have the same fundamental meaning and force, and sense of honour, symbolism and gravitas. Removal of the Royal would have the most undesirable consequences, in terms of a dilution of the impact and intrinsic power, merit and meaning imputed to their continued existence.

The bottom line is that monarchy offers a more attractive presentation of state. Receiving a knighthood is a real honour. Trooping the Colour and Changing the Guard are fascinating spectacles. The swearing-in of a new governor-general is a simple, moving and dignified ceremony, there is no preaching from the pulpit, just the steady grace of an impartial Crown. And the investiture of a new monarch can be a once-in-a-lifetime overtly religious experience, though mass secularisation and democratisation will no doubt make future coronations a less powerful visual expression than in the past, if they are not eventually discarded altogether. One wonders if we are headed for banality whether we choose to or not.

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Victoria Cross and George Cross Association

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall with holders of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross at St. James's Palace prior to a Reception given by Their Royal Highnesses for the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, 9 September 2008. The Royal couple had earlier attended a Reunion Service for the Association, of which The Prince is President, at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
© Press Association

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The Sacrifice Medal

The Governor General of Canada today announced a new military medal.

Artistic rendering, creation of the Chancellery of Honours

A new military medal has been inaugurated to commemorate soldiers and civilians who are wounded or killed while serving Canada. This is an innovation away from British tradition, as Canada will now have for the first time something resembling America's Purple Heart. However, while Purple Hearts are often awarded immediately following hostile action, the Sacrifice Medal will come only after an application through military channels by a commanding officer.

"The Sacrifice Medal was created in the context of increased casualties in overseas operations to fulfill the desire of Canadians and the Government to provide formal recognition, through the award of an official medal emanating from the Crown, to those who are killed or wounded by hostile action. This honour replaces the Wound Stripe."

The Sacrifice Medal was created to recognize a member of the Canadian Forces, a member of an allied force, or a Canadian civilian under the authority of Her Majesty's Canadian Forces who, as of  October 7, 2001, died or was wounded under honourable circumstances as a direct result of hostile action. Given the number of Canadian casualties in Afghanistan since 2001, hundreds of soldiers will immediately qualify for the honour.

Description: the Medal consists of a silver circular medal that is 36 mm across, has a claw at the top of it in the form of the Royal Crown, and is attached to a straight slotted bar.

On the obverse of the Medal appears a contemporary effigy of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada, facing right, wearing a Canadian diadem composed alternately of maple leaves and snow flakes, and circumscribed with the inscriptions “ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA” and “CANADA”, separated by small maple leaves, and

on the reverse of the Medal appears a representation of the statue named “Canada” –that forms part of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial – facing right, overlooking the horizon. The inscription “SACRIFICE” appears in the lower right half of the Medal.

The Medal is suspended from a watered ribbon that is 32 mm in width, consisting of a 10-mm black stripe in the middle that is flanked by 11-mm red stripes, on which are centred 1-mm white stripes.

The bar to the Medal is in silver with raised edges and shall bear a centred, single silver maple leaf overall. The Medal shall be engraved on the edge with the service number, rank, forename initials and surname of any military recipient or with the forenames and surname of any civilian recipient.

Wearing: The Medal shall be worn following the Royal Victorian Medal (R.V.M.), in the order of precedence in the Canadian Honours System.

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Pugnacious Defender of Emperor Charles

Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt, C.B.E., D.S.O. (1874-1948), formidable Alpiner, fierce partisan of the Old Order and fervent protector of Blessed Charles, the "last" Austro-Hungarian Emperor

Lt.-Col. Strutt died 60 years ago today
To paraphrase what Pierre Berton said of Sam Steele, some men are fortunate in the accident of their names, but few are more furtunate than Edward Lisle Strutt. That marvellous surname, rendered both blunt and familiar – suggestive of an unyielding and pontificating aristocrat – was utterly appropriate to the man who bore it. The two names Edward Strutt fitted him as neatly as his puttees; in tandem they sing like a well-tempered sword whirling in battle, and the sound they make is the sound of command – a born leader: bold, resolute, keen-eyed and barrel-chested, all the cliches apply, "erect as a pine tree and limber as a cat".

The Great War

Strutt was born the same year as Churchill as a grandson of the first Baron Belper – after whom he was named – and a future cousin of the third Baron Belper. He was a devout partisan of the Old European Order. Lt.-Col. Edward Lisle Strutt fought in the Boer War between 1900 and 1902, for which he was decorated with Queen's Medal and King's Medal, and where he was mentioned in despatches. He fought in the First World War between 1914 and 1919, where he was wounded and mentioned in despatches four times. He gained the rank of Temporary-Lieutenant and GSO(1) in 1916. He was decorated with the Companion, Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) in 1918. He was decorated with the Officer, Legion of Honour. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre (French). He was decorated with the Chevalier, Order of Romania. He was decorated with the Chevalier, Order of Leopold of Belgium. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre (Belgian). He was invested as a Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in 1919. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of the Royal Scots. He held the office of Allied High Commissioner in Danzig in 1920. In 1922 he was the second in charge of the Everest Expedition. He died on 7 July 1948 at age 74, sixty years ago today, without issue.

The Situation in Austria

The Great War had ended. The democratic republican age was dawning. The monarchical age was setting. Whilst the latter had been challenged for quite some time, the war had completely destroyed the monarchical order’s immune system. This was with “good” help from Woodrow Wilson’s crusade to make the world safe for democracy, but this crusade was of course not the only contributing factor.

The Austrian Emperor had renounced power on November 11, 1918, but without abdicating. His Imperial and Royal Majesty signed a similar declaration as King of Hungary two days later. He had gone with his family into internal exile at Eckartsau – at the hunting lodge there.

That summer the Eastern Emperor and his family had suffered the tragedy at Yekaterinburg. At the Britannic Court in London, King George V reproached himself for what had been allowed to happen to the Russian Imperial Family. There was fear that a similar fate was about to overtake the Western Emperor and his family. With the armed radicals running around in Austria at the time, this was no unfounded fear.

Also, Emperor Charles was remembered as the Emperor who had sought peace and the Archduke who represented the old Emperor Francis Joseph at His Britannic Majesty's own coronation. This indeed gave memories of an old peaceful order that now brutally had been destructed.

At the personal initiative of His Britannic Majesty, the Austro-Hungarian Imperial-Royal Family is put under British protection.

The Background and Sentiment of Strutt

Lieutenant-Colonel Strutt was a Catholic, like the Emperor he was sent to protect. He was educated in Windsor and at Oxford, and in Innsbruck, Austria. In addition to his native English, the Lt.-Col. was fluent in German and French.

Strutt was, as Gordon Brook-Shepherd noted, a British officer who served the double eagle and the Habsburg black and yellow colors with a fervor second only to the loyalty to His Britannic Majesty.

In addition to having served in the Great War, he did service in the Boer War (1900-1902), for which he was also honored and decorated.

Edward Lisle Strutt was a partisan of the Old European Order. He was a symbol of personal powers of a monarch, as he was sent on the monarch’s personal initiative. He was a symbol of solidarity between monarchs. Strutt was on the fringe related to the Habsburgs. On arrival at the hunting lodge in Eckartsau, he found a photo of the late Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, and himself.

As a grandson of the first Lord Belper, Lt.-Col. Strutt was a British aristocrat. The Belper motto was and is Propositi tenax (‘Firm of purpose’). There was indeed purpose with the Lt.-Col.

Strutt was to have a life-long passionate devotion for the Habsburg family. He was a life-long friend of the Archduke Otto.

On Mission in Austria

A few officers preceded Lt.-Col. Strutt in this protection mission. Strutt arrived at Eckartsau on February 27, 1919.

On March 17, Strutt received advice from the War Office in London that the Emperor should depart Austria for Switzerland, without any guarantees for the journey.

The new republican government was talking about abdication, exile, and internment.

On March 20, as an officer of the Royal Scots on the territory of a defeated ex-enemy, Lt.-Col. Strutt walks into the office of the republican government’s Chancellor, Dr. Karl Renner, and demands: “Please stand up in future when I enter your room!” Renner immediately jumped to his feet. Not much later he ordered an Imperial train to be assembled. The Emperor was to leave as, yes, Emperor!

Chancellor Renner shortly before the departure demanded that the Imperial-Royal family and their luggage be searched. Strutt refused, and Renner wanted to send a “High Commissioner.” The officer of the Royal Scots replied that the Chancellor could very well send such a commissioner, but he also promised that such a commissioner would be shot, and by Strutt himself. The republican Chancellor backed down.

On the eve of the departure though, Lt.-Col. Strutt was called to Dr. Renner’s office, where the Chancellor required the Emperor to abdicate in order to be allowed to leave the country. Then comes the Royal Scots officer’s best bluff on this mission. Strutt had drafted a telegram beforehand, stating:

To Director Military Intelligence London
     Austrian Government refuses permission for departure of Emperor unless he abdicates. Consequently give orders to re-establish blockade and stop all food trains entering Austria.

No more conditions were demanded. The Emperor and his family were to go Imperially. The Imperial train left for the Austro-Swiss border on March 23 with Strutt in charge and an NCO and six British Military Policemen accompanying the Imperial and Royal Family and members of what was left of the Court.

On March 24 the train arrived at the Austro-Swiss border. The Emperor issued the Feldkirch Manifesto, declaring the November 11 power renunciation null and void, and denouncing the authority of the republican government.

The old order may have lost the war, but it certainly won the Austrian departure.

Order of the British Empire

On May 30, 1919, on the occasion of His Britannic Majesty’s birthday, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt was appointed as Commander of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Later in Life

In 1920, Lt.-Col. Strutt served as High Commissioner of the Free City of Danzig.

In the spring of 1921 he returned to the Habsburg site of exile in Switzerland, and he helped the exiled Emperor-King in preparations for the spring Hungarian restoration bid. After the failure of the second Hungarian restoration bid that year, the British officer helped with communication between the Imperial-Royal couple aboard the HMS Cardiff and their children in the Helvetic Confederation. Lt.-Col. Strutt also served as messenger to the Habsburgs of an offer to let a house in Madeira.

After retiring from the military, Strutt was second-in-command of a 1922 British Everest expedition. Mountaineering continued to engage Edward Lisle Strutt. He was active in the Alpine Club, where he also served as President and editor.

He died on July 7, 1948, after also having seen the war that indeed and sadly cemented the destruction of Old Europe.

Conclusion

The now 95 year old Archduke Otto, who not long ago still thought of Strutt with great respect and gratitude, was once asked if he was not full of resentment against the British for their treatment of his father, the Emperor. The Archduke replied:

But after all, there was Colonel Strutt.

Lieutenant-Colonel Strutt most definitely serves as a hero for those on the Allied side who did not and do not second the crusade against, or the dismantling of, the Old European Order. Our hero is a shining example that one did not need be a new order crusader to serve on the Allied side.

Lt.-Col. Strutt was loyal to his Sovereign, and he did what he could for the order that the modernists had destroyed. Had Lloyd George been anything close to Lt.-Col. Strutt in character and sentiment, the old order just might have survived.

We salute the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt, C.B.E., D.S.O. on this day, 60 years after his passing.


Elsewhere: LewRockwell.com, Wilson Revolution Unplugged

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Ancient Knights of the Thistle

Wearing the distinctive green silk velvet robes and egret-plume hats of the Ancient Order of the Thistle, The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh make their way to St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh for the annual Thistle Service, 2 July 2008, to welcome two new members into the ancient brotherhood of knights.

The highest honour English subjects can receive from their Queen is the Order of the Garter. Across the border in Scotland, however, exemplary service is rewarded with membership of the 11th-century Order of the Thistle. The Thistle represents the highest honour in Scotland and is presented to Scottish men and women who have held public office or who have contributed in a particular way to national life. The service celebrates the Order, its history and its current members.

Like the monarch, the Duke of Edinburgh was dressed in a green, white silk-lined gown, outsize gold and silver tassels and the order's badge, for the ceremony in the chivalric brotherhood's chapel at Edinbugh's St Giles Cathedral.

In line with the Order's original medieval roots - it later fell into disuse but was revived in the 17th century by James II - the royal couple were welcomed by a fanfare from the Household Trumpeters. Accompanied by the Princess Royal, and a green-clad page, they then proceeded through the cathedral into the Thistle Chapel where the historic ceremony was being held.

The recipents of the Order - who take for their motto the words 'Nemo me impune lacessit' - No one provokes me with impunity - were senior retired judge Lord Cullen, and East Lothian Lord Lieutenant Sir Garth Morrison.

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Her Majesty strips Mugabe of Knighthood

This is not the right time for the mangy old British lion to rise to its height and say this election is not good enough so we'll strip you of your knighthood. — Lord Malloch Brown, British Foreign Office Minister

Robert Mugabe pictured with the Queen during his state visit to Britain in 1994, when he was awarded the honorary knighthood
Despite both Gordon Brown and Lord Malloch Brown, the Foreign Office Minister, indicating in recent days that there would be little point in stripping him of the knighthood, the decision has been taken in view of the extreme nature of his actions in Zimbabwe and the way his regime has attacked opposition members.

The Foreign Office has been in discussions with Buckingham Palace over the move and it has just been agreed that the Zimbabwe president will no longer have the title that was bestowed on him in 1994. The Queen is stripping Robert Mugabe of his knighthood for 'abject disregard for democracy'.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: "He has mutated into something quite unbelievable. He has turned into a kind of Frankenstein for his people."

In 1994, during the Premiership of John Major, Mugabe was bestowed an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath by the Queen. It entitles him to use the letters GCB, but not to use the title "Sir."

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William, Royal Knight of the Garter

Prince William becomes the 1000th Knight of the Garter

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The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross

The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) is the second highest military decoration of the United Kingdom armed forces and is superceded by only the Victoria Cross. The CGC, which may be awarded posthumously, is awarded "in recognition of an act or acts of conspicuous gallantry during active operations against the enemy".

Warrant Officer Class 2 James Wadsworth, The Royal Logistic Corps, displays the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross presented to him for services in Iraq by The Queen at an Investiture at Buckingham Palace, 4 June 2008.

The CGC was instituted in the aftermath of the 1993 review of the honours system. As part of the drive to remove distinctions of rank in awards for bravery, the CGC replaced both the Distinguished Conduct Medal (Army) and the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Air and Naval) as second level awards to Other Ranks and ratings. The CGC also replaced the Distinguished Service Order, in its role as an award to officers for gallantry (although the DSO was retained as an award for outstanding leadership). The CGC now serves as the second level award for gallantry for all ranks across the whole armed forces.

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The Canadian Victoria Cross

Canada mints its own Victoria Cross in time for Victoria Day Weekend.

Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean, along with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, unveiled the Canadian Victoria Cross at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Friday, May 16, 2008. The unveiling means the Canadian system of military honours is now entirely our own, said military historian Jack Granatstein.

"It takes the last of the military honours that we offer out of British hands," said Granatstein earlier this week. "The difference now is that the Victoria Cross would be minted for the Canadian government and given out wholly by the Canadian government. In other words, we wouldn't take one from the British stockpile and have the Queen award it."

Memo to Mr. Granatstein: My boy Jack, why pray tell us, would you not want the Queen of Canada to award it? The Canadian version of the Victoria Cross will still be issued under the Queen's Warrant!

The Canadian Victoria Cross is very similar to its British predecessor - a bronze cross suspended from a crimson ribbon bearing a lion and crown insignia - with the addition of a fleur-de-lis and the English motto "For Valour" changed to the Latin, "Pro Valore." The cross is created using a mix of three metals - gunmetal, also used in the production of the British version, bronze from a Confederation medallion commissioned in 1867, and other naturally occurring metals from across Canada.

The original Victoria Cross was created by Queen Victoria in 1856 following the Crimean War and was awarded for "gallantry in the presence of the enemy." A total of 1,356 VCs have been awarded, with 94 Canadians receiving the honour. The last Canadian to garner the prize was navy pilot Hampton Gray in 1945. All of the Canadian recipients are now deceased.

The Victoria Cross is the highest Canadian honour that can be bestowed upon a person of any rank or civilians under military command, even outranking the Order of Canada. As a result, the cross is rarely awarded. Only three have been given out in the past 20 years, one to a British soldier, one to a Grenadian and one to a New Zealander, all for saving other members of the forces while under fire.

The first Canadian to be awarded the medal will join a "legendary" group of individuals, said Harper. "Every day in military missions at home and abroad, Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen are putting their lives on the line for us," he said. "We rarely hear about their every day heroics but someday, somewhere, these men and women will do something so brave, so gallant, so exceptional that we will hear about it."

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Lieutenant Wales Receives Service Medal

Lieutenant Wales parades with the Household Cavalry, the Blues and Royals Regiment (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), and is one of 170 soldiers awarded a military campaign medal from HRH The Princess Royal earlier today for services rendered in Afghanistan.

The Princess Royal is Colonel of the Regiment, while Her Majesty is Colonel-in-Chief. The Blues and Royals are allied with the Royal Canadian Dragoons and the Governor-General's Horse Guards, the latter of which the Queen is also Colonel-in-Chief. The Blues and Royals and The Coldstream Guards are the only two regiments that can trace their lineage all the way back to The Model Army of the Cromwellian period.

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We deserve Knighthoods too

To her Most Excellent Majesty, ELIZABETH the Second.

May it Please Your Majesty,

We beg forgiveness for approaching Your Majesty's throne in this manner, but we were saddened to learn that Your Majesty did not appoint the Honourable John Howard to Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter yesterday. We were saddened not out of falsely raised expectations, but because expectations have now been raised to seemingly impossible heights, and because we in the Commonwealth are gravely starving for lack of Your Majesty's honour.

Madam, it is saddening beyond measure that we in the Commonwealth Realms abolished British Honours and knighthoods in favour of national orders without knightly rank. The old knighthoods had history, and heritage. They weren't just a Scout merit badge for good conduct, they were an honour and an obligation. Being a Knight of the Honourable Order of the Bath, or of Saint Michael and Saint George, being called "Sir" and having a coat of arms, all that was more than just window dressing. Being a knight meant chivalry, honour, tradition and obligation. It was more than the community saying "Well done", it was a way of tying our high achievers into the fabric of the community. Reminding them of their obligations, to be generous, and community-minded. Chivalrous and gentlemanly. We expect Knights to act rightly. And more than that, it was a very public salute to excellence, to kindness and to service. Our national orders, the Order of Lenin, I mean Canada, or Australia or New Zealand, are not yet on the same level. Handy to have. Nice to look at. But not elevated, not a real honour, not a knighthood.

In abolishing British honours, Your Majesty's governments wanted to reflect a distinctive national identity. This, we were told, would strengthen the community, and abolish elitism. In reality it did nothing of the sort, it destroyed our inheritance and left our communities weaker. All it did was loosen the ties of affection that unites Your Majesty with your people, and your people with each other in the community. Our national orders have no transcendent significance because they are not knightly. They have no history, no "Honourable" heritage, and, although they show the recipient to be A Nice Chap and a man of merit, they don't remind him of his obligations to the Queen and to the community that gave it to him either. Our best, brightest and kindest deserve more than a gold-plated merit badge. They deserve honour. It is a shame that we no longer believe in the concept.

Madam, because you are still able to confer honours upon Commonwealth subjects that emanate from you personally, even though your governments may silently cast aspersions for the effrontery of bypassing them, we humbly beseech your most gracious Majesty to take these matters into due consideration. We wish long life and happiness to your Majesty, and am, forever,

Your Majesty's most Faithful and obedient Subjects,

Beaverbrook and Pitt

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KNIGHTS OF THE GARTER

The Order of the Garter is 660 years old today. The ancient Order was founded by King Edward III on St. George's Day in 1348*.

The Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter are pictured at Windsor Castle in 2004, where they gather on an annual basis. The Garter is one of only three orders whose members are appointed at the sole discretion of Her Majesty. Current members can be viewed here.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will attend a Service of Thanksgiving at St. George's Chapel today to mark the 660th anniversary of the Founding of the Order of the Garter and the College of St. George and the 60th anniversary of the reintroduction of the annual Garter service by King George VI.

The Order was founded as "a society, fellowship and college of knights" and has the motto 'Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense' (Old French: "shame upon him who thinks evil of it"). Back from a successful campaign in France and inspired by tales of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Edward III decided to form a band of distinguished soldiers to inspire loyalty, encourage military excellence and reflect the ideal manifestation of Christian chivalry.

The Garter pertaining to England, is the highest ranking order in the United Kingdom and the oldest surviving order of chivalry in the world. Next to the Victoria Cross, it is the most prestigious honour for Commonwealth subjects.

*The foundation year is presumed to be 1348, although dates from 1344 to 1351 have also been proposed.

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The Most Ancient Order of the Thistle

The Queen invests the Lord Cullen of Whitekirk as a Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle at Buckingham Palace, 12 March 2008. The Order of the Thistle represents the highest honour in Scotland and consists of the Sovereign and only 16 Knights and Ladies Companion. The date of the foundation of the Order is not known but legend has it that it was founded in 809 when King Achaius made an alliance with the Emperor Charlemagne.

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Should all Knighthoods be the Sovereign's prerogative?

By David Byers (Convenor of ACM in Country, New South Wales)

Some years ago a friend of mine said “you’ve got to wonder about a nation that gives Knighthoods to rock stars”, and he had a point. Why on earth should the Crown be brought down so low as to be giving such honours to people like Elton John or ex-Beatles? I got to thinking about the process the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches goes through in making saints, now I know a Knighthood is not even close to those great honours but it is still something great.

The other problem is with politicians advising the Queen to Knight one of their political pals, something that has happened in the Australian State of Queensland for many years. Now in Australia our governments no longer advise the Sovereign to make Knights, only the Queen can give out Knighthoods to her Australian subjects on her own prerogative. Should this be the case in the UK? Maybe it should be the case that Knighthoods are only given out at the Sovereign's personal prerogative, for all her Realms.

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The Honourable John Howard to receive Knighthood - The Order of the Garter?

By David Byers Convener of Country NSW ACM

There is increasing speculation that former Australian Prime Minister Mr. John Howard is to Knighted - The Order of the Garter. A vacancy has now come up with the death of Sir Edmund Hillary. We will not know until the 23rd of April this year but I for one very much hope Mr. Howard is chosen, as it would do the Crown good to give such an honor to someone outside the UK, to someone from one of the other realms. What do readers think?

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