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Honours and Awards of the United Kingdom
The Order of precedence is the hierarchy for Peers of the Realm, officers of state, senior members of the clergy, holders of the various Orders of Chivalry and other persons in the legal jurisdictions within the United Kingdom.
The highest rank in the United Kingdom is the King or Queen who, as Sovereign, is always first in the order of precedence. The King is always followed by the Queen consort, the first in the order of precedence for women. The reverse, however, is not always true for Queens regnant and there is no established law of precedence for a prince consort, so he is usually granted specific precedence by letters patent. As such the prince consort may rank lower than the heir apparent or the heir presumptive, even if the heir is his own son.
Naming Conventions Use the naming convention specified in Help:Name Fields for European Aristocrats.
Precedence Precedence of office is used for a variety of reasons, many of which are beyond the scope and nature of wikitree. On wikitree, Precedence is used to determine which title is used in the appropriate field and which post-nominal precedes others.
Generally, in the case of post nominals, the higher, in precedence, of the Order the greater the precedence in the suffix field and the individuals status in the Chivalric Order takes precedence over other post-nominals. In the case of membership of more than one Order then the senior Order takes precedence. However the exception is for those individuals awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) and the George Cross (GC) which take precedence over any other post-nominal.
Precedence in the United Kingdom, after the Royal family, is, in order:
Officers of State
- For England and Wales; Archbishop of Canterbury, (England and Wales), Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of York (England and Wales), Archbishop of Wales (Wales), First Lord of the Treasury, Lord President of the Privy Council, Speaker of the House of Commons, Lord Speaker, President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The precedence, in England and Wales, of the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Earl Marshal, the Lord Steward and the Lord Chamberlain are determined by the rank and class of the peerage of the holder of the office and not by position in State.
- For Scotland: Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and the Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, if being Peers, rank after the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords. If not, then they rank after the younger sons of dukes. The Hereditary High Constable of Scotland and the Master of the Household in Scotland rank above dukes. If the Keepers of the Seals are Peers, then the Keepers precede the High Constable and Master of the Household.
Peers of the Realm The ranks of Peers are as follows: — Duke (and Duchess), Marquess (and Marchioness), Earl (and Countess), Viscount (and Viscountess), and Baron (and Baroness). In Scotland, in modern times, there is a distinction between a Scottish Lord (and Lady) of Parliament that are Peers of the Realm and a Baron that is not. Peerages that have been used in the British Isles are described under Peerages of the British Isles and the current Peerage is the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
If displaying a Profile on wikitree use the Title, Earl of xxxxx, Lord of yyyy, in the Other Nicknames field. There is no specific honourific for the Prefix Field although many will have held military, church or state rank or have been knighted and allowed the use of Sir, do not use Lord to describe title although Lady, to describe the wife of a knight is valid. There is no specific suffix although the (Chivalric) Order post nominals should be used if known.
Within the respective ranks of the Peerage, the rank of Peers correspond to the venerability (age) of the creation of their individual peerage. However the Peerage of England (pre-1707) takes precedence over the Peerage of Scotland (pre-1707). Both these take precedence over the Peerage of Great Britain (1707-1801), all together over the Pre-Union Peerage of Ireland (pre-1801), in turn taking precedence over the Peerage of the United Kingdom (post-1801), which, in turn, takes precedence over the Post-Union Peerage of Ireland (1801-1922). The Peerage of Ireland is held on wikitree as a single Peerage.
Titles under the Hereditary Peerage have precedence over Title under Life Peerage, that is those that cannot be inherited, and should be used in precedence.
Leaders of the Church
- England and Wales: The Primates, Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of York, Archbishop of Wales. rank immediately above the Peerage in seniority. Following the Peerage in seniority, in order, are the Bishops of London, Bishop of Durham, Bishop of Winchester, followed by the other diocesan bishops in order of seniority, and then the suffragan bishops in order of seniority. The Bishop of Sodor and Man and the Anglican Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, whose Sees are full and integral parts of the Ecclesiastical Provinces of York and Canterbury, respectively, are also usually included as suffragan bishops of the Church of England for the purpose of precedence. See wikipedia for a list of seniority.
- Scotland: In Scotland, the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ranks immediately below the sovereign or consort (depending on their respective sex), but only when the General Assembly is in session, and immediately followed by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
- Northern Ireland: No "official" seniority is applied although the one applied in Burke's Peerage is suitable for use on wikitree.
Knights of Chivalry and Baronets
In order of precedence:
- The Most Noble Order of the Garter; Knights (and Ladies of the Order) are entitled to KG (or LG) in the Suffix Field. The use of which precedes all other post-nominals other than the Victoria Cross (VC) or George Cross (GC). Knights Companion prefix "Sir" and Ladies Companion prefix "Lady" to their forenames. Wives of Knights Companion may prefix "Lady" to their surnames, but no corresponding privilege exists for husbands of Ladies Companion.
- The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle; Knights (and Ladies of the Order) are entitled to KT (or LT) in the Suffix Field. The use of which precedes all other post-nominals other than the Victoria Cross (VC) or George Cross (GC) and Baronet (Bt). Knights Companion prefix "Sir" and Ladies Companion prefix "Lady" to their forenames. Wives of Knights Companion may prefix "Lady" to their surnames, but no corresponding privilege exists for husbands of Ladies Companion.
Baronets are not Knights of Chivalry and, with some other exceptions, is the only British hereditary honour that is not a peerage. Baronets are not formally deemed noble, although they are widely regarded as being members of the aristocracy. A baronet is addressed as "Sir" or "Dame" and ranks above all knighthoods and damehoods in the Order of precedence, except for the Order of the Garter and the Order of the Thistle (and the dormant Order of St Patrick).
- Knights of the Bath (KB) until 1661, Order of the Bath (KB 1722-1815. CB, KCB, GCB 1815-present).
See Honours System Of The United Kingdom.
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