The King has appointed three new members to the Order of the Garter, just months after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had to give up his membership.
The Order of the Garter is the oldest chivalric order in the United Kingdom and dates back to the 14th century.
New knights are usually appointed on St. George’s Day and King Charles has followed tradition and bestowed the honour on a hat trick of people.
The new knights are historian and academic, Peter Hennessy, now known as The Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield. He is joined by Ian Burnett, now Baron Burnett of Maldon who was Lord Chief Justice of England between 2017 and 2023. The third new knight is The Lord O’Donnell.
They are all expected to be at the Garter Day Parade at Windsor in June for their formal installation into the Order.
In December, King Charles had his younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, removed from the Order of the Garter. It ended an honour that the former prince had been given in 2006. Following his removal from the Order, Andrew’s banner was removed from St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and his name was removed from the register of knights past and present.
The Order of the Garter remains the highest order of chivalry in the UK.
King Edward III founded the Most Noble Order of the Garter. It was officially founded in 1348 but may date back to 1344. Reportedly he was inspired by King Arthur and his Round Table of Knights, but he also may have taken some ideas from other European orders created at roughly the same time.
Edward and 25 Founder Knights created the order, including Edward, the Black Prince. They each took their stall in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor, and the chapel remains the spiritual home of the order to this day.
Fittingly, St. George was chosen as the patron saint; any new inductees are announced on St. George’s Day (23 April). Buckingham Palace notes that members are ”chosen personally by the Sovereign to honour those who have held public office, who have contributed in a particular way to national life or who have served the Sovereign personally”
The Sovereign leads an investiture at St. George’s Chapel on Garter Day in Windsor where any new members are invested with their order, and all living members of the Order process in their ceremonial robes and regalia.
The order remains at 24 members, and the Sovereign and the Prince of Wales. The Order’s motto is Honi soit qui mal y pense (“Shame on him who thinks evil of it”).
The Sovereign can appoint supernumerary members to the Order now, who do not count towards the limit of 24 Knights. King George III created the title of “Royal Knights and Ladies of the Garter” to allow him to appoint his own sons and relatives to the order without taking away spots from others. In 1813, the first “Stranger Knights and Ladies of the Garter” were announced. Emperor Alexander I of Russia was the first foreign monarch to be given this title.
As Prince of Wales, Charles was made a Royal Companion of the Order of the Garter in 1958. Upon his accession to the throne, on 8 September 2022, he became the Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
Other royals who are current members include Queen Camilla, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. King Felipe VI of Spain and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands were both made ‘Stranger Knights’ early on in their reigns while the honour has also been given to the current Emperor of Japan.
