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 that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the re ...
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.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
, 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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
's awards was published in ''
The London Gazette
''The London Gazette'', known generally as ''The 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, i ...
'' 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
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
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 and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...
, 26 January, and the
King's Official Birthday
The King's Official Birthday or Queen's Official Birthday is the selected day in most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of Monarchy of the United Kingdom, the monarch is officially celebrated in those countries. It does not necessarily ...
holiday, in early June.
Australia Day Honours
The
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 and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...
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 both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...
'', ''
Canada Gazette
The ''Canada Gazette'' () 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 published treaties, hearing an ...
'', ''Commonwealth of Australia Gazette'' and ''
New Zealand Gazette
The ''New Zealand Gazette'' (), commonly referred to as ''Gazette'', is the official newspaper of record the New Zealand Government (government gazette), serving as the medium by which decisions of Government are promulgated. Published since ...
''. 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 and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
( 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 ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...
. 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 often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...
. 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 the honours awarded after the deaths of
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in 2002,
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 2021, and
Queen Elizabeth II in 2023.
Dissolution Honours
The Dissolution Honours List lists recipients of
honours
Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...
from the monarch after the
dissolution of Parliament
The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy ...
. 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the Du ...
. 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
The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...
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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
are
honours
Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...
granted at the behest of an outgoing
Prime Minister
A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
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 Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks.
Peerages include:
A ...
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, also known as "the Lavender List", about which
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...
's
1922 Dissolution Honours list resulted in the
Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
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 a ...
" scandal.
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
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, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
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
As part of the British honours system, Special Honours are issued at the
Monarch
A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...
's
pleasure
Pleasure is experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious animals find ...
at any given time. The Special Honours refer to the awards made within royal prerogative, operational honours, political honours and other honours awarded outside the
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
and
Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are ...
.
Special honours are issued at random points throughout the year. Australia and the United Kingdom both issue special honours.
See also
*
Australian honours system
The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively ...
*
Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada
The orders, decorations, and medals of Canada comprise a complex system by which Canadians are honoured by the Monarchy of Canada, country's sovereign for actions or deeds that benefit their community or the country at large. Modelled on its Or ...
*
New Zealand royal honours system
The New Zealand royal honours system, a system of orders, decorations and medals, recognises achievements of, or service by, New Zealanders or others in connection with New Zealand. Until 1975, New Zealand used the British honours system. Sin ...
*
Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories, personal bravery, achievement, or service are rewarded with honours. The honours system consists of three types of award:
*Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement a ...
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