Order of the Garter
In January 1344 the King held a Feast of the Round Table in Windsor and, in the following April, St George's Day was first celebrated. The concept of King Arthur and the Round table, with attendant ceremonies and jousting, were presumably at the forefront of the King's mind at this time of the heyday of the beginnings of heraldry and chivalry. Most scholars, however, date the founding of the Order to 1348 when the College of St George was founded within the precincts of Windsor Castle and Edward III gathered the Prince of Wales (mostly known as the Black Prince) and 24 Knights, all of whom had served at the Battle of Crecy and who were in their twenties or thirties.
Legend has it, of course, that the name of the Order, unique in its concept, came about from when King Edward III was dancing with Joan, Countess of Salisbury and her garter fell to the floor. He is supposed to have picked it up and, putting it round his own leg, uttered the immortal line, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" which is Latin for "Shame on him who thinks badly of it". (This has also been translated as "Dishonour unto him who evil thinks it", and even, though erroneously, "Evil unto him who evil thinks it".) Garter historians generally agree that the Garter is rather a symbol of the unity of 'inmost society' and concord. It cannot escape anyone's notice that the main colours of the Garter itself are gold and blue - the colours of the French Fleurs-de-Lys Coat of Arms - inspired by the King's desires on the French Throne.
The original Garter Knights were as follows:
- King Edward III (1312–77)
- Edward, the Black Prince, Prince of Wales (1330–76)
- Henry of Grosmont, 4th Earl of Lancaster (c. 1310–61)
- Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick (d. 1369)
- Jean III de Grailly, Captal de Buch (d. 1377)
- Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford (1301–72)
- William de Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury (1328–97)
- Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March (1328–60)
- John de Lisle, 2nd Baron Lisle (1318–56)
- Bartholomew de Burghersh, 2nd Baron Burghersh (d. 1369)
- John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp (d. 1360)
- John de Mohun, 2nd Baron Mohun (c. 1320–76)
- Sir Hugh de Courtenay (d. 1349)
- Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent (1314–1360)
- John de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Rotherfield (c. 1300–59)
- Sir Richard Fitz-Simon (b. 1295)
- Sir Miles Stapleton (d. 1364)
- Sir Thomas Wale (d. 1352)
- Sir Hugh Wrottesley (d. 1381)
- Sir Nele Loring (d. 1386)
- Sir John Chandos (d. 1369)
- Sir James Audley (d. 1369)
- Sir Otho Holand (d. 1359)
- Sir Henry Eam (d. before 1360)
- Sir Sanchet D'Abrichecourt (d. 1345)[3]
- Sir Walter Paveley (d. 1375)
It will be noticed that Edward, The Prince of Wales is, after his father as Sovereign of the Order, at the top of the list. This has led many to presume that the eldest son of the monarch is automatically admitted to the Order on his creation as Prince of Wales. However, neither Henry VI’s son, Edward, nor Richard III’s son, also Edward, were Knights of the Garter, although they were both created Princes of Wales. The Garter Statutes of 1415 specifically mention that the 'Prince of Wales … shall always hold the Stall opposite that of the Superior of the Order after he has been elected’. A Statute by King George III sought to appoint all of his sons to the Garter but this was reversed in 1805. However, it appears to have been taken that HRH Prince Charles became a Knight of the Garter automatically when he was appointed Prince of Wales in 1958, even though he wasn't installed until 10 years later, in time for his Investiture in 1969.
The monarch remains sovereign of all UK Orders of Chivalry. The Garter does not have a Grand or Great Master; Garter, Principal King of Arms fulfills that role in general. There have been two cases, of course, where there have been two Sovereigns of the Order.
The first case was when the first official Queen Regnant in England, Mary I, married King Philip of Spain on 27th July 1554 as they were, with certain restrictions, immediately declared joint Sovereigns. Philip was installed as a Knight of the Garter the following month and was led to the Sovereign's Stall alongside Mary. When Mary died in 1558, Philip's Banner was placed over a nearby Stall. He returned the Sovereign's Badge to Queen Elizabeth I via an ambassador in 1560.
The second case was that of King William III and Queen Mary II, who were officially joint Sovereigns. It tended to be William who presided over things but, shortly before her death in 1694, Mary took over as William was out of the country. When William took over alone his first appointment was his nephew, the then Princess Anne's son, William, Duke of Gloucester, who was Prince of Wales in all but name and being groomed as ultimate heir. William of Gloucester was only 5 years old when he was appointed to the Garter. He didn't break his uncle's record as William III was 2½ years old when he was appointed in 1653 during the Interregnum.
We have seen the Chapel of the Order of the Garter, St George's Chapel, Windsor, in a previous Blog. This is a rich source of heraldry with the Knights' Banners and Crests above their Stall and their Coats of Arms on the panelling.
Queen Victoria greatly extended the use of the Garter as a gift to foreign royalty, especially as King George III had separated them from 'ordinary' Knights Companion. Nowadays, foreign royalty are Extra or Stranger Knights or Ladies and members of the British Royal Family are separate to the basic 24. King Edward VII revived the Garter Missions - state visits in all but name, when a senior member of the Royal Family, rather than the monarch, would be dispatched to invest the receiving Sovereign with the Order - and also revived the appointment of Ladies of the Garter, although he 'only' appointed his wife, Queen Alexandra.
'Ladies of the Garter' had always been a part of the Order, although not counting towards the 24 Companions, since its conception and up to 1488, making King Henry VII's mother, Margaret of Beaufort the last Lady of the Garter until Queen Alexandra. Throughout the 20th century, the Queens Consort were made Ladies of the Grater as part of the British Royal Family and a handful of foreign Queens were appointed Stranger or Extra Ladies; the Companions remained purely men. That was until 1987 when HM Queen Elizabeth II amended the Statutes of the Order to allow for the admission of Lady Companions.
I can remember the speculation as to who the first Lady Companion would be. Most people could only think of Maragret Thatcher at the time. There was a tradition of investing an outgoing prime minister with the Garter and Mrs Thatcher had been the first female PM in the UK. But in 1987 she was still the incumbent Prime Minister and wasn't ousted until November 1990. By that time, Lavinia Mary Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk had been appointed as the first Lady Companion of the Garter and Margaret, later Baroness Thatcher, was appointed the second Lady Companion. Many might wonder who the Duchess of Norfolk was, other than the wife of the most senior Duke in the Kingdom. In her own right, the Duchess had been the first woman Lord Lieutenant as Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex from 1975 and, in 1953, had stood in for The Queen at the dress rehearsals for the Coronation. She also shared a love of horses with Her Majesty and had been Princess Anne's predecessor in the presidency of the Riding for the Disabled Association, handing over in 1986. |
Traditionally, a lady wears the Garter on her left arm, rather than on the leg. Perhaps the most famous wearer of the Garter in this way, certainly in modern days, was Queen Mary, Consort of King George V, following the tradition of Queen Victoria. The late Queen Mother most famously didn't wear the Garter in that way at her daughter's Coronation in 1953. The present Queen rarely uses the Garter itself - maybe because of the style of evening dresses she has worn. Over the years, two notable exceptions have occurred, namely when she wore it on her visits to the Vatican in 1961 (shown here) and 1980.
Whilst King George V reinstated the Garter Ceremony, it was his second son, King George VI, who took a particular interest in the Garter and expanded the Order in modern times, making the Garter Ceremony an annual event as of 1948. It has even been said that he 'loved' the Garter.
King George III's insignia included the Badge shown here, which is likely to have been one of George II's two jewelled Georges, each set round with nine large brilliants. They were listed in 1752 and more fully in 1761, when they were valued at £4,500 and £2,300 respectively. In 1765 two pieces of George III's insignia (perhaps including this piece) were altered and enriched by his Swiss-born jeweller, John Duval (active 1748-1800). Following the success of the Hanoverian claim against Queen Victoria in 1857, the nine large brilliant-cut diamonds surrounding the figure of St George were removed by R. & S. Garrard & Co. (successors to Rundells as Crown Jewellers). They were used either for the new collet diamond necklace or in the reconstituted Regal Circlet (dismantled in 1937 to form the new Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). The Badge itself was then remade with the present clusters, using lesser stones from the Queen's collection. This Badge is one of a number of jewelled Georges in the Royal Collection, and was worn (as a Great George) by King George VI at his Coronation in 1937. |
This Lesser George is known as 'The Stuart George'. The floral-style ornament of the enamel on the reverse recalls mid-seventeenth century French designs. However, the object itself makes an English provenance and a date around 1661 more likely. The Badge may be the ‘ancient Cameo Badge of Garter, enamelled back’ listed at Windsor Castle in 1830, and subsequently listed in 1937 and 1838. |
When exhibited at the 1894 Heraldic Exhibition at Burlington House, this Badge was said to have belonged to Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1593-1641), who was created a Knight of the Garter in 1640. For various reasons it is difficult to accept this provenance: the cut of the stones, their settings and the style of the enamelling would tend to place the Badge in the second half of the seventeenth century. William III wears a similar George, seemingly set with twelve rose-cut diamonds, in a portrait of c.1690 in the Royal Collection. Obverse: circular cameo of St. George slaying the dragon with the Princess in the background; set in a gold mount and framed with eight rose-cut diamonds in silver collets. The gold suspension ring has a large rose-cut diamond in a silver collet. Reverse: oval enamel miniature painting of St. George and the Dragon surrounded by the Garter and motto of the Order of the Garter ‘HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE’; (Shame on him who thinks evil of it); with surrounding scalloped border of white enamelled gold with black and pink scrollwork. The enamel miniature of St. George and the Dragon on the reverse of the Badge is after a painting by Raphael of c.1506, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. That painting had been presented to Charles I between 1628 and 1638 but was sold, together with most of the Royal Collection, in 1651. A miniature copy, painted by Peter Oliver for Charles I in 1628, survives in the Collection. Queen Victoria acquired a further seventeenth century miniature copy, in enamel on gold, in 1899. It is not known how the Badge entered the Royal Collection. It first appears as a later addendum to the 1909 inventory of gems and jewels where it is described as belonging to Charles I. When exhibited in 1894 the piece was in the collection of Sir Charles Robinson (1824-1913), Surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures from 1882 to 1901. |
This Badge was one of those listed in Queen Charlotte's bedroom at Buckingham House in 1819 when an inventory was made of the King's jewels discovered there after the Queen's death. According to correspondence between Princess Augusta and Lord Liverpool in 1815, it appears that the King packed the pieces away in 1804. When preparing to wear the jewels for the Installation of the Knights of the Garter on St George's Day 1805, the King could not remember where he had stored them and became greatly distressed. The 1819 inventory described the Badge as 'A very large Brilliant George with rubies, saphires [sic] in the drapery & Brilliant Fleur-de-lis at top'. There is no other provenance for the piece and it has been little worn, as later Sovereigns have preferred other, lighter Badges. The stone setting may be of the late eighteenth century and of continental, possibly Viennese, manufacture, while the chased reverse, crudely held in place by a series of rivets and screws, may be English and of a later date. |
This is the Great George which Queen Elizabeth II has favoured all during her reign and which she wore to her Coronation in 1953. It was made for George IV and was copied from a Great George worn by the 1st Duke of Marlborough, hence the name.
Parts of the set appear in portraits throughout the rest of his life, by Hayter, Winterhalter, Lucas, Partridge and Fenton.
Below is a selection of Arms for previous Knights Companion and one Lady Companion. A very comprehensive list of all present and previous Knights and Ladies, including their Shield encircled by the Garter and any appropriate Crown or Coronet, has been drawn up by R. S. Nourse as User:Rs-nourse via Wikimedia. It is a veritable Roll of Arms in the traditional sense.
Each Knight and Lady, including the royal appointees, have a Banner which hangs above their Stall in St George's Chapel, Windsor, alongside their Crest, Crown or Coronet. Heralder not only shows the full Arms of current Knight and Ladies Companion, but also those of previous Appointees. He also shows the current Banners.
Annual Garter Ceremony
One of the most colourful annual pageants, the occasion involves a chapter meeting, a luncheon, the procession and the service in the Chapel. If there are new Knights or Ladies, they are invested privately with the Robes, Chain and Garter in the Garter Throne Room of Windsor Castle and then participate in the procession down the hill to the Chapel. All in all, it is a magnificent if somewhat medieval sight with the blue and red velvet robes and the white ostrich feathers bobbing as the procession winds its way between the ranks of Life Guards and the crowds of happy tourists.
It is said that Lord Mountbatten soon learned his lesson when he 'muscled in' to walk next to HM The Queen Mother. He was said to have soon moved back to his expected position when he couldn't work out whether the crowds were cheering him or Her Majesty!
Also invested were Lady Companion, athlete Lady Mary Peters, and Knight Companion, the Marquess of Salisbury, a former Chairman of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation.
Knights and Ladies Companion join a rather exclusive club. They are invited to major events, such as royal weddings, and four Knights have previously been chosen to hold the canopy over the Sovereign during the anointing at Coronations. As the Order has been expanded under the present reign to include Ladies Companion there may be a change at future coronations, especially as the canopy for the anointing of Queens Consort has traditionally been carried by duchesses.
On a sad note, when a Knight or Lady Companion passes away, there is a short and moving ceremony when the Banner is brought down and marched to the Quire and then laid on the Altar by the Dean. A simple white wreath is placed over the Stallplate. (I saw the wreath in Sir Edmund Hillary's Stall and there is now or has been one for HRH The late Duke of Edinburgh.)
Sir Winston Churchill was the second Knight of the Garter who HM The Queen appointed (in April 1953) after he had declined the title of Duke of London. So, as the incumbent Prime Minister, he was able to attend Her Majetsy's Coronation in some kind of robes. When he passed away in 1965 his Banner was displayed before the Nave Altar for some weeks before its presentation. The ceremony was witnessed by The Queen from the Catherine of Aragon loft, after which the Banner was presented to Sir Winston's son, Randolph. (The Prince of Wales has the late Queen Mother's Banner hanging in Clarence House.) One presumes that no such fate awaited the Banner of the great man of the Second World War, as it is said that Randolph rolled it up and threw it unceremoniously into the boot of his car. The Dean's Verger, who had treated the Banner with great reverence until that moment, was only able to look on with a disapproving eye...