King's first Birthday Honours

Well deserved congrats to Julian C Phillips (ORC, 72-80) on being award the Royal Victoria order (member) for services to the Royal Household in the recent King's first Birthday Honours.

The Royal Victorian Order was established by Queen Victoria in 1896 as a personal award to recognise “distinguished personal service” to the Monarch and her household. It was the first Order of Chivalry that was given at the sole discretion of the Sovereign; the government, at the time, having almost complete control over the distribution of honours. The new Order was entirely outside the jurisdiction of the government; other honours were bestowed by the Sovereign with the advice of their Ministers. The Order of the Garter did not become the personal gift of the Monarch until 1946 and The Order of the Thistle in 1947. The Royal Victorian Order was founded on the 21st April 1896; one year prior to Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

When the Order was founded, three Officers were instituted to oversee the Order: the Chancellor, held ex-officio by the Lord Chamberlain, the Secretary, held ex-officio by the Keeper of the Privy Purse, and the Registrar, held ex-officio by the Secretary of the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. The Offices of Grand Master, Chaplain, and Honorary Genealogist were later introduced in 1937; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was appointed the first Grand Master, a position she held until her death in 2002, the Chaplain of the Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy was appointed the ex-officio position of Chaplain, and the Honorary Genealogist held by one of the Sovereign’s Officers of Arms.

The current Grand Master of the Royal Victorian Order is Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal who was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007.