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'' 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 holiday, in early June.

Australia Day Honours

The

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'', ''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 ( 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. 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 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. 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 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" 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 ...

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 and Birthday Honours. Special honours are issued at random points throughout the year. Australia and the United Kingdom both issue special honours.

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