Royal Warrant - Consolidated Statutes of the Order of the Companions of Honour [1988-11-11]

ELIZABETH R.

ELIZABETH THE SECOND, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and Sovereign of the ORDER OF THE COMPANIONS OF HONOUR, to all to whom these Presents shall come,

Greeting!

Recites Letters Patent of 4th June, 1917.

WHEREAS Our Royal Grandfather, His Late Majesty King George the Fifth, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal, bearing date the Fourth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and seventeen, in the Eighth year of His Reign, did institute, erect, constitute, and create an Order, to be called and known for ever thereafter by the name, style and designation of THE ORDER OF THE COMPANIONS OF HONOUR, whereof His said Majesty, His heirs and successors for ever should be Sovereigns, and did by the said Letters Patent ordain and declare that the said Order should be governed by Statutes and Ordinances to be established by the Sovereign and sealed by and with the Seal of the said Order:

AND WHEREAS the Statutes of the said Order have from time to time been amended and re-enacted by Our Royal Predecessors and by Us:

WE deem it now expedient to assemble the said Statutes and to make such alterations as appear to Us necessary for the proper government of the Order:

Repeals all former Statutes.

NOW KNOW YE that, in pursuance and exercise of the power vested in Us by the said Letters Patent, We have abrogated an[d] annulled and do hereby abrogate and repeal all and every the said Statutes and Ordinances so far as they are repugnant to or inconsistent with the following Statutes;

And further KNOW ALL YE to whom these Presents shall come that in substitution thereof We have made, ordained and established and by these Presents sealed with the Seal of the Order, do make, ordain and establish, the following Statutes and Ordinances, which shall from henceforth be inviolably observed and kept within the same, namely:

Style and Designation of Order.

I.—It is ordained and enjoined that this Order shall be styled and designated in all acts, proceedings, and pleadings "THE ORDER OF THE COMPANIONS OF HONOUR" as directed in the Letters Patent of the Eighth year of the Reign of Our Royal Grandfather King George the Fifth, and by no other designation.

Constitution of the Order.

II.—It is ordained that the said Order shall consist of the Sovereign, and Members, Ordinary and Honorary.

Sovereign of the Order.

III.—It is ordained that We, Our heirs and successors, Kings or Queens Regnant of these Our Realms, are, and forever shall be, Sovereigns of this Order, to whom doth and shall belong all power of annulling interpreting, explaining, or augmenting these and every part of these Statutes.

Ordinary Members not to exceed 65 in number.

IV.—It is ordained that the Ordinary Members of this Order shall not exceed sixty-five in number.

Persons eligible for appointment to the Order.

V.—It is ordained that the persons to be admitted as Ordinary Members of this Order shall be such persons, subjects of Our Crown, as may have rendered conspicuous service of National importance. It is further ordained that the name of every such person whom it is proposed to admit to the said Order shall be laid before Us, Our heirs and successors, by Our Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury of the United Kingdom, or by the appropriate Minister of State for a Commonwealth Country or State of which We are Queen.

Honorary Members.

VI.—It is ordained that the persons to be admitted as Honorary Members of the Order shall be such persons, who are not subjects of Our Crown, upon whom We may think fit to confer the honour of being received into the Order, and that the number of such Honorary Members may consist of as many such persons as We, Our heirs and successors shall think fit to appoint. It is further ordained that the name of every such person whom it is proposed to admit as an Honorary Member shall be laid before Us, Our heirs and successors, by Our Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs or by the appropriate Minister of State for a Commonwealth Country or State of which we are Queen.

Certain appointments to be Additional.

VII.—It is ordained that those persons who were admitted into this said Order in commemoration of the Twenty-fifth year of the reign of Our Royal Grandfather, His late Majesty King George the Fifth, in the year One thousand nine hundred and thirty-five, or who were admitted in commemoration of the Coronation of Our Royal Father, His late Majesty King George the Sixth on the Twelfth day of May in the year One thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven, or those whom We thought fit to admit in commemoration of Our Royal Coronation on the Second day of June in the year One thousand nine hundred and fifty-three, or those whom We thought fit to admit in commemoration of Our Silver Jubilee in the year One thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven, shall be Additional Members, and shall not be included within the number of Ordinary Members. It is further ordained that the Additional Members so appointed shall have rank and precedence among the Ordinary Members of Our said Order according to the dates of their respective appointments, and that the Statutes of Our said Order shall in all matters and things apply in the same manner to the said Additional Members as to the Ordinary Members of Our said Order, any Statute, Decree or Usage to the contrary notwithstanding.

Precedence of the Order.

VIII.—It is ordained that this Order shall rank next to and immediately after the First Class of the MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

Appointments to be made by Warrant.

IX.—It is ordained that when We, Our heirs and successors shall be pleased to nominate and appoint any person to be a Member of this Order, such appointment shall be made by Warrant under Our Royal Sign Manual, and sealed with the Seal of the Order.

Insignia of the Sovereign.

X.—It is ordained that the Insignia of the Sovereign of the said Order shall be of the same material and fashion as are hereinafter appointed for the Members of the Order.

Insignia.

XI.—It is ordained that the Members of this Order shall upon all great and solemn occasions wear the oval shaped badge of the Order which shall consist of a gold medallion with a representation of an oak tree and pendant from a branch a shield of the Royal Arms on the dexter a representation of a Knight armed and in armour mounted on a horse, the whole within a circle azure inscribed with the motto, "In action faithful and in honour clear" in letters of gold ensigned with the Royal Crown proper.

Method of Wearing Badge.

It is ordained that the Badge shall be worn by men around the neck, suspended from a carmine riband of the breadth of one inch and a half with a bordure interlaced gold; and by women on the left shoulder, suspended from a similar riband fashioned into a bow.

Investiture.

XII.—It is ordained that upon the nomination of any person to be a Member of this Order, he, or she, shall be invested with the Insignia of his, or her, dignity in the Order by Us, Our heirs and successors, and that on the day of the investiture the person to be invested shall be introduced into the presence of the Sovereign by the Officer of the Order in attendance bearing the proper Insignia of the Order; when the Sovereign shall proceed to invest him, or her, with the Ensigns of the said Order with the Riband and Badge.

Sovereign may delegate powers as to Investiture.

XIII.—It is further ordained that it shall be competent for Us, Our heirs and successors, by a Warrant or Warrants under Our Sign Manual, and sealed with the Seal of this Order, to authorize some distinguished Officer in Our service, or other person to perform in Our name, and on Our behalf, the ceremony of investing Members with the Insignia of their dignity, or to permit the ceremony of investiture to be dispensed with.

As to dispensing with Investiture.

And We reserve to Ourselves, Our heirs and successors, by Our or their Warrant or Warrants, as aforesaid, to permit and authorize the person or persons not invested by Us to wear the Insignia and enjoy the privileges appertaining to their dignity.

Armorial Ensigns.

XIV.—It is ordained that for the greater honour and dignity of the Members of this Order, it shall be lawful for the Members of this Order to suspend a representation of their Riband and Badge from the bottom of the escutcheon containing their armorial bearings.

Seal of the Order.

XV.—It is ordained that the Seal of this Order shall have engraved thereon as follows, that is to say, upon a white field, a representation of the Badge of the Order proper, impaled with Our Royal Arms, with the following circumscription, "The Seal of the Order of the Companions of Honour", and that the Statutes of the said Order shall be sealed by and with the same.

Officer of the Order.

XVI.—It is ordained that the following Officer shall be appointed to this Order, that is to say, a Secretary and Registrar.

Secretary and Registrar of the Order.

XVII.—It is ordained that the Secretary and Registrar of the said Order shall be the person for the time being holding the Office of the Secretary of the Central Chancery of Our Orders of Knighthood. To his custody shall be confided the Seal of the said Order, which he shall affix, or cause to be affixed, to all Statutes and other documents or instruments connected therewith.

His Duties.

He shall, moreover, perform such duties as may be directed by The Sovereign or by these Statutes. He shall keep full lists of the Members of the Order. He shall carefully record all proceedings relative to the said Order that may take place, and he shall faithfully enter such proceedings in the Register of the Order, as well as all documents which may be transmitted to him for that purpose.

Chancery of the Order.

We are further pleased to ordain that the Chancery of the said Order, wherein a record of all proceedings connected therewith shall be deposited and preserved, shall be in the Central Chancery of Our Orders of Knighthood.

Statutes to be observed.

XVIII.—We do hereby command and enjoin that these Statutes shall be of such and the same force, virtue an effect in every respect as if they had been duly made, and the said acts, deeds, matters and things had been duly done, on the Fourth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and seventeen.

Power reserved to alter Statutes.

Lastly, XIX,—We reserve to Ourselves, Our heirs and successors, full power of annulling, altering, abrogating, augmenting, interpreting, or dispensing with these Statutes and Regulations, or any part thereof, by a Notification under the Sign Manual of the Sovereign of the Order.

GIVEN under the Seal of this Order at Our Court at Saint James's this Eleventh day of November, One thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight, in the Thirty-seventh year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,

DOUGLAS HURD