Royal Family Order

The Royal Family Order is an order awarded by the sovereign of the United Kingdom to female members of the royal family. The order is a personal memento rather than a state decoration. The same practice is in place in the Norwegian Royal Family, the Swedish Royal Family and the Danish Royal Family.

History

The first Royal Family Order was issued during and after the regency of King George IV. Prior to 1820, he started the practice of presenting the order to ladies and gentlemen of the Court, particularly female members of the Royal family. His order was rather ornate in appearance, and the frame that surrounded his portrait was of diamond oak leaves and acorns. The badge was suspended from a white silk bow. As a young woman, Victoria (later Queen Victoria) received this badge from her uncle.

After King George IV, each succeeding sovereign has issued his or her own Royal Family Order.

A slight variation in the practice of the Royal Family Order came with the reign of Queen Victoria. When Victoria came to the throne there was no Royal Family Order until after her marriage she created her Royal Order of Victoria and Albert in 1862, which then served as her Royal Family Order. The order consisted of a cameo portrait of Victoria and Albert, and was suspended from a white ribbon. No other Royal Family Order has depicted both the sovereign and the sovereign's consort.

Related to the Royal Family Order is Queen Alexandra's ladies' order, which is sometimes mistakenly called Queen Alexandra's Royal Family Order. This is not an official order, but rather one that was personally issued by Queen Alexandra to those in her service or family.

Classes and insignia

Today, the Royal Family Order appears to exist in a single class. Previous Royal Family Orders had three or four classes. (Queen Victoria's Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, for example, had four.)

The badge of the order consists of a portrait of the Sovereign set in diamonds, which is suspended from a ribbon. The ribbon of each Royal Family Order changes with each monarch: Edward VII's was variegated of red, blue, and white (similar to the colors of the Royal Victorian Order), George V's was pale blue, and George VI's was rose pink. Each contained a portrait of the sovereign, usually in uniform (if male), or an evening dress (if female). The reverse of the order contains the royal cypher of the sovereign.

The Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II depicts The Queen in evening dress wearing the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter. The miniature, painted on ivory, is bordered by diamonds and surmounted by a Tudor crown in diamonds and red enamel. The reverse, in silver-gilt, is patterned with rays and depicts the royal cypher and St Edward's Crown in gold and enamel. The watered silk ribbon is chartreuse yellow and formed into a bow.

Wearing the Order

[
King George V (her Grandfather) and King George VI (her father) in 2006. The star and collar are a Brazilian decoration;The "Order of the Southern Cross"]

The Royal Family Orders are worn pinned to the left shoulder at formal evening occasions when other orders and decorations are worn. If a sash is worn also over the left shoulder, the order is pinned to the sash. If more than one Royal Family Order is worn, they are layered, with the most recent always on top.

More than one Royal Family Order may be worn. The Queen herself wears the Family Orders of her father King George VI and her grandfather King George V; she does not wear her own. Princess Alexandra has those of King George VI and The Queen. Those who wear that of The Queen only are The Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal, The Duchess of Gloucester, The Duchess of Cornwall and The Duchess of Kent.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, wore those of King George V, King George VI, and The Queen. Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, also wore those of King George V, King George VI and The Queen. Princess Margaret wore the same as her mother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone wore those of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI and The Queen. In addition she also wore The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert - one of only 2 women, the other being Queen Mary, who was a member of 5 British Royal Family orders at the same time. Diana, Princess of Wales wore that of The Queen only.

It is notable that marriage into the Royal Family does not automatically bestow the Order. Although Diana, Princess of Wales received the Order, Sarah, Duchess of York did not .

List of Royal Family Orders

* Royal Family Order of King George IV (1811/1821)
* Royal Order of Victoria and Albert (1862)
* Royal Family Order of King Edward VII (1901)
* Royal Family Order of King George V (1911)
* Royal Family Order of King George VI (1937)
* Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II (1953)"