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Order of the
Companions of Honour
CHCompanionofHonour.jpg
Badge and ribbon of the order
Awarded by Charles III
Type Order
Established 4 June 1917
Motto In Action Faithful and in Honour Clear
Eligibility All living citizens of the Commonwealth realms
Criteria Nationally important service
Status Currently constituted
Founder George V
Sovereign Charles III
Grades Member (CH)
Order of the Companions of Honour Ribbon.gif
Ribbon bar of the order

The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire.

The order was originally intended to be conferred upon a limited number of persons for whom this special distinction seemed to be the most appropriate form of recognition, constituting an honour dissociated from either the acceptance of title or the classification of merit. It is now described as being "awarded for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time". The first recipients of the order were all decorated for "services in connection with the war" and were listed in The London Gazette.

Composition

Btweedsmuir2
Lord Tweedsmuir, as Governor General of Canada, wearing the Order of the Companions of Honour badge around his neck

The order consists of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms, who is the Sovereign of the Order of the Companions of Honour, and a maximum of 65 members. Additionally, foreigners or Commonwealth citizens from outside the Commonwealth realms may be added as honorary members. Members are organised into a single class and are appointed by the monarch of the Commonwealth realms in their capacity as sovereign of the order. While membership of the order confers no title or precedence, those inducted into the order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters CH.

Appointments to the order are generally made on the advice of prime ministers of the Commonwealth realms. For Canadians, the advice to the Sovereign can come from a variety of officials. Originally, the order was limited to 50 ordinary members, but in 1943 it was enlarged to 65, with a quota of 45 members for the United Kingdom, seven for Australia, two each for New Zealand and South Africa, and nine for India, Burma, and the other British colonies. The quota numbers were altered in 1970 to 47 for the United Kingdom, seven for Australia, two for New Zealand, and nine for other Commonwealth realms. The quota was adjusted again in 1975 by adding two places to the New Zealand quota and reducing the nine for the other countries to seven.

Whilst still able to nominate candidates to the order, the Cabinet of Australia has effectively stopped the allocation of this award to that country's citizens in preference to other Australian honours. The last Australian member, Doug Anthony, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, died on 20 December 2020. Companions from other Commonwealth realms continue to be appointed, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, a New Zealand soprano, was given the award in 2018 and Canadian author Margaret Atwood was given the award in 2019.

The Lord Coe CH represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation.

Insignia

The insignia of the order is in the form of an oval medallion, surmounted by a royal crown (but, until recently, surmounted by an imperial crown), and with a rectangular panel within, depicting on it an oak tree, a shield with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom hanging from one branch, and, on the left, a mounted knight in armour. The insignia's blue border bears in gold letters the motto IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR, Alexander Pope's description (in iambic pentameter) in his Epistle to Mr Addison of James Craggs, later used on Craggs's monument in Westminster Abbey. Men wear the badge on a neck ribbon (red with golden border threads) and women on a bow at the left shoulder.

Current members

Royal companion

Member number Name Post-nominals Occupation Date of appointment Age
1 (384) The Princess of Wales GCVO, CH Royal family 23 April 2024 42

Members

Member
number
Name Post-nominals Current or former occupation Date of appointment Age
1 (267) United Kingdom The Lord Tebbit CH, PC Politician 31 July 1987 93
2 (270) United Kingdom The Lord Baker of Dorking CH, PC Politician 13 April 1992 90
3 (278) United Kingdom The Lord King of Bridgwater CH, PC Politician 13 April 1992 91
4 (282) United Kingdom Dame Janet Baker CH, DBE Opera singer 31 December 1993 91
5 (287) United Kingdom The Lord Owen CH, PC Politician 11 June 1994 86
6 (289) United Kingdom Sir David Attenborough OM, GCMG, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FSA, FRSA, FLS, FZS, FRSGS, FRSB Broadcaster; naturalist 30 December 1995 98
7 (291) United Kingdom The Lord Hurd of Westwell CH, CBE, PC Politician 30 December 1995 94
8 (294) United Kingdom David Hockney OM, CH Artist 14 June 1997 87
9 (296) United Kingdom The Lord Heseltine CH, PC Politician 2 August 1997 91
10 (297) United Kingdom The Lord Patten of Barnes KG, CH, PC Politician; former Governor of Hong Kong 31 December 1997 80
11 (299) United Kingdom Sir John Major KG, CH, PC Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 31 December 1998 81
12 (300) United Kingdom Bridget Riley CH, CBE Artist 31 December 1998 93
13 (305) Canada John de Chastelain CC, CMM, CH, CD Canadian Army officer; diplomat 31 December 1998 87
14 (317) United Kingdom Dan McKenzie CH, FRS Geophysicist 14 June 2003 82
15 (318) United Kingdom The Lord Hannay of Chiswick GCMG, CH Diplomat 14 June 2003 79
16 (320) United Kingdom Dame Judi Dench CH, DBE Actress 11 June 2005 90
17 (321) United Kingdom Sir Ian McKellen CH, CBE Actor 31 December 2007 85
18 (323) United Kingdom The Lord Howard of Lympne CH, PC, KC Politician 11 June 2011 83
19 (324) United Kingdom The Lord Young of Cookham CH, PC Politician 20 September 2012 83
20 (325) United Kingdom The Lord Coe CH, KBE, Politician; athlete; organiser of 2012 Olympics 29 December 2012 68
21 (327) United Kingdom The Lord Strathclyde CH, PC Politician 7 January 2013 64
22 (328) United Kingdom The Lord Campbell of Pittenweem CH, CBE, PC, KC Politician 15 June 2013 83
23 (329) United Kingdom Sir Nicholas Serota CH Curator 15 June 2013 78
24 (331) United Kingdom The Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve CH, CBE, FBA, FRS, FMedSci Philosopher 31 December 2013 83
25 (332) United Kingdom Dame Maggie Smith CH, DBE Actress 14 June 2014 89
26 (333) United Kingdom The Lord Clarke of Nottingham CH, PC, KC Politician 22 July 2014 84
27 (336) United Kingdom Lady Mary Peters LG, CH, DBE, DStJ Athlete 1 January 2015 85
28 (339) United Kingdom The Lord Woolf CH, PC, FBA, FMedSci Judge 12 June 2015 91
29 (341) United Kingdom Sir Roy Strong CH, FRSL Art historian; museum director 1 January 2016 89
30 (343) United Kingdom The Lord Smith of Kelvin KT, CH Businessman 11 June 2016 80
31 (344) United Kingdom The Baroness Amos LG, CH, PC Politician; diplomat 11 June 2016 70
32 (345) United Kingdom George Osborne CH, PC Politician; former Chancellor of the Exchequer 4 August 2016 53
33 (347) United Kingdom Sir Richard Eyre CH, CBE Director 31 December 2016 81
33 (348) United Kingdom Dame Evelyn Glennie CH, DBE Musician 31 December 2016 59
35 (349) United Kingdom Sir Alec Jeffreys CH, FRS Geneticist 31 December 2016 74
36 (353) United Kingdom Sir Mark Elder CH, CBE Conductor 17 June 2017 77
37 (355) United Kingdom Sir Paul McCartney CH, MBE Musician 17 June 2017 82
38 (356) United Kingdom J. K. Rowling CH, OBE Author 17 June 2017 59
39 (357) United Kingdom Dame Stephanie Shirley CH, DBE, FREng Entrepreneur; philanthropist 17 June 2017 91
40 (358) United Kingdom Delia Smith CH, CBE Cook; author 17 June 2017 83
41 (359) United Kingdom The Lord Stern of Brentford CH, FRS, FBA Economist 17 June 2017 78
42 (361) United Kingdom The Lord Bragg CH, FRS, FBA, FRSL Broadcaster 30 December 2017 85
43 (362) United Kingdom Lady Antonia Fraser CH, DBE, FRSL Author 30 December 2017 92
44 (363) Canada Margaret MacMillan OM, CC, CH Historian 30 December 2017 81
45 (364) United Kingdom Richard Henderson CH, FRS, FMedSci Biologist 9 June 2018 79
46 (365) New Zealand Dame Kiri Te Kanawa ONZ, CH, DBE, AC Opera singer 9 June 2018 80
47 (366) Canada Margaret Atwood CC, OOnt, CH, FRSC, FRSL Author 29 December 2018 85
48 (367) United Kingdom The Lord McLoughlin CH, PC Politician 10 September 2019 67
49 (368) United Kingdom Sir Elton John CH, CBE Musician 28 December 2019 77
50 (369) United Kingdom Sir Keith Thomas CH, FBA, FLSW, FRHistS Historian 28 December 2019 91
51 (370) United Kingdom Sir Paul Smith CH, CBE, RDI Fashion designer 10 October 2020 78
52 (371) United Kingdom Sir David Chipperfield CH, CBE, RA, RDI, RIBA Architect 31 December 2020 71
53 (372) United Kingdom Sir Paul Nurse OM, CH, FRS, FMedSci, , , MAE Geneticist 31 December 2021 75
54 (374) United Kingdom Sir Quentin Blake CH, CBE, FCSD, FRSL, RDI Illustrator 1 June 2022 92
55 (375) United KingdomIndia Sir Salman Rushdie CH, FRSL Writer 1 June 2022 77
56 (376) United Kingdom Dame Marina Warner CH, DBE, FRSL, FBA Writer 1 June 2022 78
57 (377) United Kingdom Sir Michael Marmot CH, FRCP, FFPM, FMedSci, FBA Academic 31 December 2022 79
58 (379) United Kingdom Sir Bill Cash CH Politician 9 June 2023 84
59 (380) United KingdomCanada Sir John Bell GBE, CH, FMedSci, FREng Physician 16 June 2023 72
60 (381) United Kingdom Ian McEwan CH, CBE, FRSA, FRSL Writer 16 June 2023 76
61 (382) United Kingdom Dame Anna Wintour CH, DBE Media executive 16 June 2023 75
62 (383) United Kingdom Dame Shirley Bassey CH, DBE Singer 29 December 2023 87
63 (-) Vacant following the death of The Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, on 13 May 2023
64 (-) Vacant following the death of Peter Higgs, on 8 April 2024
65 (-) Vacant following the death of The Lord Field of Birkenhead, on 23 April 2024

Honorary members

Member number Name Post-nominals Occupation Date of appointment Age
1 (261) India Amartya Sen CH, FBA Economist 11 May 2000 91

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Orden de los Compañeros de Honor para niños

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