The origins of knighthood are obscure, but they are said to date back to ancient Rome, where there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris (an order of mounted nobles). Foreign citizens given knighthoods over the years include Chancellor Kohl, President Mitterrand and Mayor Giuliani of New York. Such knighthoods are conferred by The Queen, on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on those who have made an important contribution to relations between their country and Britain. They are not able to use the title 'Sir'.įoreign citizens occasionally receive honorary knighthoods they are not dubbed, and they do not use the style 'Sir'. By tradition, clergy receiving a knighthood are not dubbed, as the use of a sword is thought inappropriate for their calling. The ceremony involves the ceremonial dubbing of the knight by The Queen, and the presentation of insignia. The Queen (or a member of the Royal Family acting on her behalf) confers knighthood in Britain, either at a public Investiture or privately. A knighthood cannot be bought and it carries no military obligations to the Sovereign. Recipients today range from actors to scientists, and from school head teachers to industrialists. While in past centuries knighthood used to be awarded solely for military merit, today it recognises significant contributions to national life. The Queen touches the recipient briefly on each shoulder with the Knighting sword, the sword used by George VI as Colonel of the Scots Guards (RCIN 250092).Ī knighthood (or a damehood, its female equivalent) is one of the highest honours an individual in the United Kingdom can achieve. The recipient of the honour advances toward the stool, rests one knee on the stool and bows the head. This stool is used during ceremonies of Investiture for the appointment of Knights. The carved and gilt frame of Louis XVI style, with gold galloon sewn onto the crimson silk-velvet padded seat, the raised handrail covered in silk-velvet and with small brass patera at each end, the beech seat rails carved with guilloche-pattern, on turned tapering fluted legs carved with foliage, with foliage panels at the top of each leg, underside branded 'WINDSOR CASTLE VR / 1866 ROOM 520', with lead counterweight fixed to the rail opposite the fixing for the hand rail, altered to perform its present function in the twentieth century.
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