The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert is a British Royal Family Order instituted on 10 February 1862 by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, and enlarged on 10 October 1864, 15 November 1865, and 15 March 1880. No award has been made since the death of Queen Victoria. The order had four classes and was only granted to female members of the British royal family and female

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...

s. For the first three classes, the badge consisted of a medallion of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, differing in the width and jewelling of the border as the classes descend, whilst the fourth substitutes a jewelled

cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode ...

. All four were surmounted by a crown, which was attached to a bow of white

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

moiré ribbon. The honour conferred no rank or title upon the recipient, but recipients were entitled to use the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

"VA". The last holder of the Order,

Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline; 25 February 1883 – 3 January 1981) was a member of the British royal family. She is the longest-lived British princess of royal blood, and was the last surviving grand ...

, died in 1981.

Recipients

* 1863 The Princess of Wales * Elizabeth Biddulph, Baroness Biddulph (Woman of the Bedchamber) *The Countess of Mount Edgcumbe (Lady of the Bedchamber) * Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill (Lady of the Bedchamber) *1889: The Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava *

Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton, (née Villiers; 15 September 1841 – 17 September 1936) was a British aristocrat. As the wife of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, she was vicereine of India. After his death, she was a court-a ...

Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.

Sources

*''

Whitaker's Almanack ''Whitaker's'' is a reference book, published annually in the United Kingdom. The book was originally published by J Whitaker & Sons from 1868 to 1997, then by The Stationery Office until 2003, and then by A & C Black which became a wholly owned ...

'', 1893 *'' British Imperial Calendar'', 1900, 1902 *''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

References

{{Queen Victoria British honours system * Orders, decorations, and medals for women Awards established in 1862 1862 establishments in the United Kingdom British royal family Royal family orders

Recipients

Sources

See also

References