Order of the Bath
From Saxon times, knighthood was often conferred with elaborate ceremonies. These usually involved the knight-to-be taking a bath (possibly symbolic of spiritual purification or baptism) during which he was instructed in the duties of knighthood by more senior knights. He was then put to bed to dry. Clothed in a special robe, he was led with music to the chapel where he spent the night in a vigil. At dawn he made confession and attended Mass, then retired to his bed to sleep until it was fully daylight, when he was brought before the King, who after instructing two senior knights to buckle the spurs to the knight-elect's heels, fastened a belt around his waist, then ‘dubbed’ him on the neck (with either a hand or a sword), thus making him a knight. It was this accolade which was the essential act in creating a knight.
From the coronation of King Henry IV in 1399 the full ceremonies were restricted to major royal occasions such as coronations (the Coronation of Henry IV involving considerable fees paid to the heralds) and the knights so created became known as Knights of the Bath. Knights Bachelor continue to be created with the simpler form of ceremony of dubbing. The last such Knights of the Bath were created for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661.
From at least 1625, and possibly from the reign of James I, Knights of the Bath were using the motto Tria juncta in uno (Latin for "Three joined in one") and wearing a badge of three crowns. Their symbolism however is not entirely clear. The 'three joined in one' may be a reference to the kingdoms of England, Scotland and either France or Ireland, which were held (or claimed in the case of France) by Great Britain, corresponding to the three Crowns in the badge. However, another explanation holds that it refers to the Holy Trinity.
While the Court remained the centre of the political world, a strong following in Parliament depended on being able to supply places, pensions, and other marks of Royal favour to the government's supporters. While the Garter and the Thistle remained the prerogative of the monarch, the Order of the Bath was seen as a steppingstone. The Prime Minister of the day, Robert Walpole saw it as a means of bestowing patronage when orders were still bestowed on the grandees of the country rather than the somewhat later idea of personal achievement.
The Order initially consisted of the Sovereign, a Prince of the Royal Blood as Principal Knight, a Great Master and thirty-five of only once class of Knight Companion. At the end of the Peninsular War, existing Knights Companion became Grand Crosses and the class of Knight Commander and a new, lower version of Knight Companion were introduced.
Up until 1847 the Order had included the word 'Military' in its full name, but Queen Victoria had it removed. This may have been as a consequence of appointing her husband, Prince Albert, as Great Master in succession to her uncle, the Duke of Sussex. Prince Albert took a constructive interest in the Order and turned it into a useful machine for rewarding services to the Crown. After his death, Queen Victoria refused to replace her Consort until the time of her Diamond Jubilee in 1897 when she appointed her son and heir The Prince of Wales (not long afterwards King Edward VII), by which time the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, had succeeded in getting the distribution of honours, including the Bath, into the hands of his Office.
In 1912 there was a general appeal made by the new monarch, King George V, for funds and members raised enough money to create stalls for 46 Knights Grand Cross in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey. By this time, the King's uncle, The Duke of Connaught, had taken over as Great Master and under his interest, the ceremony of installation was revived, taking place again for the first time in the Chapel on 22nd July 1913. The King processed to Westminster Abbey from the House of Lords.
The outdoor procession from the Lords to the Abbey permitted the citizens of London to enjoy the splendour of the crimson, gold and waving plumes as they had been accustomed to do in the eihteenth century.
Women were allowed to be appointed to the Order from 1971. The most notable recipient of Dame Grand Cross - the only such appointment from within the Royal Family - was HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester in 1975 after her husband, who had served as Great Master, had passed away the previous year. HRH The Prince of Wales was appointed Great Master and attended the installation ceremony on 28th May 1975 sporting a natty moustache. He had had a full beard which is allowed in the Navy as he was still a serving officer and, at the time, helicopter pilot on HMS Hermes. The 'tash' was short-lived, though, as they, on their own, are not allowed in the British Navy. |
The second Dame Grand Cross (and the first, therefore, outside the Royal family), Sally Davies, was not appointed until the 2020 New Year Honours. Dame Sally was Chief Medical Officer for England, and the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and is the incumbent Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.
The military division remains straightforward in nature. In the Navy all Admirals of the Fleet, in the Army most if not all Field Marshals and in the Royal Air Force all Marshals are Knights Grand Cross. The only exception to Field marshals in the Royal Family is the Duke of Kent. The only exception within the Royal Family to all three groups was HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was possibly not in the Order of the Bath by his own choice.
It has become customary during the current reign for foreign presidents making official visits to be given the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath when an equivalent foreign monarch would receive the Order of the Garter. This has lead to some 'interesting' appointments, such as Mussolini of Italy, who was appointed by King George V in 1923 and promptly demoted in the Second World War, and Ceausescu of Romania, who was given it on his State Visit in 1978 and had it remove in December 1989, just before his demise. President Heinemann of the then West Germany was installed into the Order in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey on 26th October 1972.
Both Presidents Ronald Reagan (in 1989 on the personal recommendation of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) and George H.W. Bush (in 1993) received the Knight Grand Cross of the Order shortly following their presidential terms of office for their support in British foreign affairs.
His late Majesty King Hussein of Jordan was also an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. In a charming photograph of him chatting with HM The Queen at the Banquet for Heads of State hosted by the Lord Mayor of London at the Guildhall on 6th May 1995 marking the 50th Anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day, His Majesty can be seen, not only with an impressive array of medals, but also the Star and Badge of the Order of the Bath.