Royal Victorian Chain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Royal Victorian Chain

Badge of the Royal Victorian Chain
Awarded by the monarch of the United Kingdom (foundation - 1931) the monarch of the United Kingdom and the Dominions (1931 - 1952) the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (since 1952)
Type	Personal award
Eligibility	Men and women, of any nation
Awarded for	At the monarch's pleasure
Status	Currently awarded
Statistics
Established	1902
Total inductees	84^{[citation needed]}

Ribbon of the Royal Victorian Chain

The Royal Victorian Chain is an award instituted in 1902 by King Edward VII as a personal award of the monarch (i.e. not an award made on the advice of any Commonwealth realm government). Although it is similarly named, the chain is not related to the Royal Victorian Order.

Design

The chain is in gold, decorated with motifs of Tudor rose, thistle, shamrock, and lotus flower (symbolizing England, Scotland, Ireland, and India, respectively) and a crowned, red enamelled cypher of King Edward VII—ERI (Edwardus Rex Imperator)—surrounded by a gold wreath for men, upon which the badge is suspended. The chain is worn around the collar by men or with the four motifs and some chain links fixed to a riband in the form of bow (blue with red-white-red edges) on the left shoulder by women. However, the Queen's sister, the late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, in later life chose to wear her chain around the collar, as male recipients do.

The badge is a gold, white enamelled Maltese Cross; the oval-shaped central medallion depicts Victoria's royal and imperial cypher—VRI (Victoria Regina Imperatrix)—on a red background, surrounded by a crown-surmounted blue ring bearing the word Victoria. Both the crown and Queen Victoria's cypher are studded with diamonds.

Eligibility and allocation

The Royal Victorian Chain does not confer upon its recipients any style or title, nor does it give a precedence within any Commonwealth honours system. However, it represents a personal token of high distinction and esteem from the monarch. The chain can be conferred upon men and women, both of the realms and foreign. There are at least 14 recipients living, of whom only four were not heads of state at the time of award.

It has normally served as the senior award for Canadians, who are generally ineligible to receive knighthoods under federal Cabinet policy. Only two Canadians have thus far received the chain: Vincent Massey and Roland Michener, both former governors general.^[1]

The Royal Victorian Chain must be returned to the monarch upon the death of the recipient.

List of living recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain

Name	Known for	Date of appointment	Age
King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand	King of Thailand	1960	86
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark LG GCVO	Queen of Denmark	1974	73
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden KG GCVO	King of Sweden	1975	67
Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands LG GCVO	Former Queen of the Netherlands	1982	76
António Ramalho Eanes	Former President of Portugal	1985	79
King Juan Carlos I of Spain KG	King of Spain	1986	76
Richard von Weizsäcker	Former President of Germany	1992	93
King Harald V of Norway KG GCVO	King of Norway	1994	77
The Earl of Airlie KT GCVO PC JP	Former Lord Chamberlain	1997	87
The Lord Carey of Clifton PC	Former Archbishop of Canterbury	2002	78
The Duke of Edinburgh KG KT OM ONZ GBE AC QSO GCL CC CMM PC PC ADC(P)	Consort of Queen Elizabeth II	2007	92
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia GCB	King of Saudi Arabia	2007	89
Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said GCB GCMG GCVO	Sultan of Oman	2010	73
The Lord Williams of Oystermouth PC	former Archbishop of Canterbury	2012	63

References

↑ Christopher McCreery (2005). The Canadian honours system. Dundurn Press. p. 105. ISBN 1-55002-554-6.

External links

v t e Orders, decorations and medals of Canada

Awards of valour	Victoria Cross Cross of Valour

National orders	Order of Merit Order of Canada Order of Military Merit Order of Merit of the Police Forces Royal Victorian Order Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem

Provincial orders	Orders, decorations, and medals of the Canadian provinces

Other decorations and medals	Royal Victorian Chain Decorations War and operational service medals Special service medals United Nations medals NATO medals International mission medals Commemorative medals Long service and good conduct medals Exemplary service medals Special Medals

v t e Orders and honours of the United Kingdom

Current orders	Garter Thistle Bath Merit St Michael and St George Royal Victorian Distinguished Service British Empire Crown of India Imperial Service Companions of Honour King George V King George VI Queen Elizabeth II St. John

Noncurrent orders	St. Patrick Royal Guelphic Star of India Indian Empire Indian Merit British India Burma King George IV Victoria and Albert King Edward VII

Other honours	Royal Victorian Chain Hereditary peerage Life peerage Privy Counsellor Baronet Knight Bachelor Aide-de-camp (ADC) Honours of other Commonwealth realms

Revocations Orders, decorations and medals Campaign medals

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.