# List of dames grand cross of the Order of the British Empire

Below is a list of dames grand cross of the Order of the British Empire from the Order's creation in 1917 until the present day:

## Pre-1930

| Date | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
| 4 June 1917 | Queen Mary | 26 May 1867 | 24 March 1953 | |
| 4 June 1917 | Annie Allen, Lady Lawley (Baroness Wenlock from 1931) | 1863 | 29 April 1944 | Honorary Secretary, Queen Mary's Needlework Guild |
| 4 June 1917 | Louise Margaret Leila Wemyss, Lady Paget | 9 October 1881 | 24 September 1958 | Serbian Relief Fund |
| 4 June 1917 | Flora, Lady Reid | 10 November 1867 | 1 September 1950 | |
| 4 June 1917 | Katharine Furse | 23 November 1875 | 25 November 1952 | Commandant-in-Chief, Women's Voluntary Aid Detachment |
| 4 December 1917 | Frances Charlotte, Baroness Chelmsford (Viscountess Chelmsford from 1921) | 22 March 1869 | 24 September 1957 | For services in connection with the War |
| 1 January 1918 | Queen Alexandra | 1 December 1844 | 20 November 1925 | |
| 1 January 1918 | Margaret, Baroness Ampthill | 8 October 1874 | 12 December 1957 | President, Bedfordshire Branch and Member of Council, British Red Cross Society; Head of the Voluntary Aid Detachment Department, Devonshire House |
| 1 January 1918 | Edith Isabel Benyon | 30 April 1857 | 28 March 1919 | President, Berkshire Branch, British Red Cross Society; Commandant, Englefield House Hospital |
| 1 January 1918 | Aimée Evelyn, Lady Dawson | 1864 | 24 December 1946 | Joint Honorary Secretary, Queen Mary's Needlework Guild |
| 1 January 1918 | Violet Hermione, Duchess of Montrose | 10 September 1854 | 21 November 1940 | President, Scottish Branch, British Red Cross Society |
| 1 January 1918 | Mary Elizabeth, Viscountess Northcliffe (Lady Hudson from 1923) | 22 December 1867 | 29 July 1963 | Member, Joint Committee of British Red Cross Society and Order of St John of Jerusalem; Donor and Administrator, Lady Northcliffe's Hospital for Officers |
| 1 January 1918 | Sultan Jahan, Begum of Bhopal | 9 July 1858 | 12 May 1930 | For services rendered by the Native States of India during the War |
| 1 January 1918 | Annette Louise, Countess of Liverpool | 23 May 1875 | 25 May 1948 | For services in or for the Oversea Dominions, Colonies and Protectorates, in connection with the War |
| 3 June 1918 | Princess Christian | 25 May 1846 | 9 June 1923 | Member of Council, British Red Cross Society; Member, Joint War Committee of British Red Cross Society and Order of St John of Jerusalem |
| 3 June 1918 | Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll | 18 March 1848 | 3 December 1939 | President, Kensington Branch and Member of Council, British Red Cross Society |
| 3 June 1918 | Princess Helena Victoria | 3 May 1870 | 13 March 1948 | Lady President, Young Men's Christian Association; President, Women's Auxiliary of the Young Men's Christian Association for France |
| 3 June 1918 | Ethel Hope Becher | 1867 | 10 May 1948 | Matron-in-Chief, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service |
| 3 June 1918 | Mary Ethel, Viscountess Harcourt | 26 August 1874 | 7 January 1961 | Honorary Secretary, American Women's War Relief Fund |
| 3 June 1918 | Agnes Weston | 26 March 1840 | 23 October 1918 | Founder, Royal Sailors' Rests |
| 3 June 1918 | Charlotte Josephine, Marchioness of Winchester | | 28 December 1924 | President, Hampshire Branch, British Red Cross Society; Member, VAD Advisory Committee and VAD Selection Board |
| 3 June 1918 | Emma Maud McCarthy | 22 September 1859 | 1 April 1949 | Matron-in-Chief, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service |
| 3 June 1918 | Lady Helen Munro Ferguson (Viscountess Novar from 1920) | 1863 | 9 April 1941 | For services in or for the Oversea Dominions, Colonies and Protectorates, in connection with the War |
| 1 January 1919 | Sidney Jane Browne | 5 January 1850 | 13 August 1941 | Matron-in-Chief, Territorial Nursing Service |
| 1 January 1919 | Princess Beatrice | 14 April 1857 | 26 October 1944 | President, Isle of Wight Branch, British Red Cross Society |
| 1 January 1919 | Princess Marie Louise | 12 August 1872 | 8 December 1956 | Head of Bermondsey Voluntary Hospital |
| 1 January 1919 | Adeline Marie, Duchess of Bedford | 24 September 1852 | 12 April 1920 | Member, Joint War Committee of British Red Cross Society and Order of St John of Jerusalem; President, Ladies' Committee of Order of St John |
| 1 January 1919 | Mildred, Viscountess Buxton (Countess Buxton from 1920) | 29 June 1866 | 7 December 1955 | |
| 1 January 1919 | Sarah Ann Swift | 22 November 1854 | 27 June 1937 | Matron-in-Chief, British Red Cross Society and Order of St John of Jerusalem |
| 1 January 1919 | Beatrix Frances, Marchioness of Waterford (Duchess of St Albans from 1934) | 25 March 1877 | 5 August 1953 | Head of Irish War Hospitals Supply Depots; Member, Joint War Committee for Leinster, Munster and Connaught, British Red Cross Society and Order of St John of Jerusalem |
| 1 January 1920 | Mabell Frances Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Airlie | 10 March 1866 | 7 April 1956 | President, Queen Alexandra's Army Nursing Board |
| 1 January 1920 | Maud Evelyn, Marchioness of Lansdowne | 17 December 1850 | 21 October 1932 | For service in connection with the War |
| 1 January 1920 | Alice Edith, Countess of Reading (Marchioness of Reading from 1926) | | 30 January 1930 | For service in connection with the War |
| 1 January 1920 | Annie, Lady de Sausmarez | 1856 | 15 March 1947 | President, British Women's Work Association in China |
| 16 August 1920 | Margaret Lloyd George | 4 November 1864 | 20 January 1941 | |
| 1 January 1922 | Grace Elvina, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston | 16 May 1885 | 29 June 1958 | For services rendered during the War to the British Red Cross Society, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, the Belgian Soldiers' Club, and Queen Alexandra's Nursing Association |
| 1 January 1922 | Mary Ethel Hughes | 6 June 1874 | 2 April 1958 | For services rendered in Australia during the War |
| 3 June 1924 | Marie Adelaide, Baroness Willingdon (Marchioness of Willingdon from 1936) | 24 March 1875 | 30 January 1960 | |
| 1 January 1925 | Ellen Alice Carew (Ellen Terry) | 27 February 1847 | 21 July 1928 | |
| 1 January 1925 | Millicent Garrett Fawcett | 11 June 1847 | 5 August 1929 | |
| 1 December 1925 | Ivy Muriel Chamberlain | 10 October 1878 | 13 February 1941 | |
| 1 January 1926 | Rachel Cecily, Baroness Forster | 1868 | 12 April 1962 | For services in Australia during the period of her husband's Governor Generalship |
| 5 June 1926 | Christina Allen Massey | 11 January 1863 | 19 April 1932 | For services to the Dominion of New Zealand |
| 3 June 1927 | Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, Viscountess Lascelles (Princess Royal from 1932) | 25 April 1897 | 28 March 1965 | |
| 3 June 1927 | Dame Nellie Melba | 19 May 1861 | 23 February 1931 | In recognition of services to the Commonwealth of Australia |
| 27 June 1927 | Elizabeth Angela Marguerite, Duchess of York (Queen Elizabeth from 1936) | 4 August 1900 | 30 March 2002 | On the occasion of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York to New Zealand and Australia to inaugurate the new capital of the Commonwealth of Australia at Canberra |
| 1 March 1929 | Edith Sophy Lyttelton | 4 April 1865 | 2 September 1948 | For public services |
| 3 June 1929 | Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan | 21 January 1879 | 26 August 1967 | For public and scientific services |

## 1930s

* 1931: The Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair
* 1932: The Baroness Baden-Powell; The Viscountess Cowdray
* 1937: Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone; The Countess Baldwin of Bewdley; The Duchess of Gloucester; The Duchess of Kent; Enid Lyons
* 1938: The Marchioness of Carisbrooke

## 1940s

* 1944: The Dowager Marchioness of Reading
* 1946: Clementine Churchill; Isobel Cripps
* 1948: The Countess Mountbatten of Burma; Dame Beryl Oliver

## 1950s

* 1951: The Baroness Denman
* 1953: The Baroness Freyberg
* 1954: The Countess Alexander of Tunis; Pattie Menzies; The Countess of Limerick; The Baroness Horsbrugh
* 1957: Dame Dehra Parker

## 1960s

* 1961: The Baroness Sharp
* 1964: Lady Dorothy Macmillan

## 1980s

* 1983: The Baroness Donaldson of Lymington

## 2000s

* 2005: The Baroness Butler-Sloss

## 2010s

* 2012: The Baroness Hayman
* 2019: The Lady Higgins

## 2020s

* 2022: Dame Sue Ion
* 2023: Dame Hermione Lee
* 2024: Dame Margaret Beckett; Dame Carol Black; Queen Camilla (Grand Master); Dame Jenny Abramsky
* 2025: Dame Jacqueline Wilson