Order of the Companions of Honour

The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire.
The order was originally intended to be conferred upon a limited number of persons for whom this special distinction seemed to be the most appropriate form of recognition, constituting an honour dissociated from either the acceptance of title or the classification of merit. It is now described as being "awarded for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time". The first recipients of the order were all decorated for "services in connection with the war" and were listed in The London Gazette.
==Composition==
The order consists of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms, who is the Sovereign of the Order of the Companions of Honour, and a maximum of 65 members. Additionally, foreigners or Commonwealth citizens from outside the Commonwealth realms may be added as honorary members. Members are organised into a single class and are appointed by the monarch of the Commonwealth realms in their capacity as sovereign of the order. While membership of the order confers no title or precedence, those inducted into the order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters CH.
Appointments to the order are generally made on the advice of prime ministers of the Commonwealth realms. For Canadians, the advice to the Sovereign can come from a variety of officials. Originally, the order was limited to 50 ordinary members, but in 1943 it was enlarged to 65, with a quota of 45 members for the United Kingdom, seven for Australia, two each for New Zealand and South Africa, and nine for India, Burma, and the other British colonies. The quota numbers were altered in 1970 to 47 for the United Kingdom, seven for Australia, two for New Zealand, and nine for other Commonwealth realms. The quota was adjusted again in 1975 by adding two places to the New Zealand quota and reducing the nine for the other countries to seven.
Whilst still able to nominate candidates to the order, the Cabinet of Australia has effectively stopped the allocation of this award to that country's citizens in preference to other Australian honours. The last Australian member, Doug Anthony, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, died on 20 December 2020. Companions from other Commonwealth realms continue to be appointed, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, a New Zealand soprano, was given the award in 2018 and Canadian author Margaret Atwood was given the award in 2019.
The Lord Coe CH represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation.
==Insignia==
The insignia of the order is in the form of an oval medallion, surmounted by a royal crown (but, until recently, surmounted by an imperial crown), and with a rectangular panel within, depicting on it an oak tree, a shield with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom hanging from one branch, and, on the left, a mounted knight in armour. The insignia's blue border bears in gold letters the motto IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR, Alexander Pope's description (in iambic pentameter) in his Epistle to Mr Addison of James Craggs, later used on Craggs's monument in Westminster Abbey. Men wear the badge on a neck ribbon (red with golden border threads) and women on a bow at the left shoulder.
==Current members==
* Sovereign: King Charles III
=== Royal companions ===
Member number	Name 	Post-nominals	Occupation 	Date of appointment	Age
1 (384) 	The Princess of Wales	 	Royal family	23 April 2024 	
=== Members ===
Membernumber	Name 	Post-nominals 	Current or former occupation 	Date of appointment	Age
1 (267) 	The Lord Tebbit 	 	Politician 	31 July 1987 	
2 (270) 	The Lord Baker of Dorking 	 	Politician 	13 April 1992 	
3 (278) 	The Lord King of Bridgwater 	 	Politician 	13 April 1992 	
4 (282) 	Dame Janet Baker 	 	Opera singer 	31 December 1993 	
5 (287) 	The Lord Owen 	 	Politician 	11 June 1994 	
6 (289) 	Sir David Attenborough 	OM, GCMG, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FSA, FRSA, FLS, FZS, FRSGS, FRSB 	Broadcaster; naturalist 	30 December 1995 	
7 (291) 	The Lord Hurd of Westwell 	 	Politician 	30 December 1995 	
8 (294) 	David Hockney 	 	Artist 	14 June 1997 	
9 (296) 	The Lord Heseltine 	 	Politician 	2 August 1997 	
10 (297) 	The Lord Patten of Barnes 	 	Politician; former Governor of Hong Kong 	31 December 1997 	
11 (299) 	Sir John Major 	 	Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 	31 December 1998 	
12 (300) 	Bridget Riley 	 	Artist 	31 December 1998 	
13 (305) 	John de Chastelain 	 	Canadian Army officer; diplomat 	31 December 1998 	
14 (317) 	Dan McKenzie 	 	Geophysicist 	14 June 2003 	
15 (318) 	The Lord Hannay of Chiswick 	 	Diplomat 	14 June 2003 	
16 (320) 	Dame Judi Dench 	 	Actress 	11 June 2005 	
17 (321) 	Sir Ian McKellen 	 	Actor 	31 December 2007 	
18 (323) 	The Lord Howard of Lympne 	 	Politician 	11 June 2011 	
19 (324) 	The Lord Young of Cookham 	 	Politician 	20 September 2012 	
20 (325) 	The Lord Coe 	 	Politician; athlete; organiser of 2012 Olympics	29 December 2012 	
21 (327) 	The Lord Strathclyde 	 	Politician 	7 January 2013 	
22 (328) 	The Lord Campbell of Pittenweem 	 	Politician 	15 June 2013 	
23 (329) 	Sir Nicholas Serota 	 	Curator 	15 June 2013 	
24 (331) 	The Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve 	 	Philosopher 	31 December 2013 	
25 (332) 	Dame Maggie Smith 	 	Actress 	14 June 2014 	
26 (333) 	The Lord Clarke of Nottingham 	 	Politician 	22 July 2014 	
27 (336) 	Lady Mary Peters 	 	Athlete 	1 January 2015 	
28 (339) 	The Lord Woolf 	 	Judge 	12 June 2015 	
29 (341) 	Sir Roy Strong 	 	Art historian; museum director 	1 January 2016 	
30 (343) 	The Lord Smith of Kelvin 	 	Businessman 	11 June 2016 	
31 (344) 	The Baroness Amos 	 	Politician; diplomat 	11 June 2016 	
32 (345) 	George Osborne 	 	Politician; former Chancellor of the Exchequer 	4 August 2016 	
33 (347) 	Sir Richard Eyre 	 	Director 	31 December 2016 	
33 (348) 	Dame Evelyn Glennie 	 	Musician 	31 December 2016 	
35 (349) 	Sir Alec Jeffreys 	 	Geneticist 	31 December 2016 	
36 (353) 	Sir Mark Elder 	 	Conductor 	17 June 2017 	
37 (355) 	Sir Paul McCartney 	 	Musician 	17 June 2017 	
38 (356) 	J. K. Rowling 	 	Author 	17 June 2017 	
39 (357) 	Dame Stephanie Shirley 	 	Entrepreneur; philanthropist 	17 June 2017 	
40 (358) 	Delia Smith 	 	Cook; author 	17 June 2017 	
41 (359) 	The Lord Stern of Brentford 	 	Economist 	17 June 2017 	
42 (361) 	The Lord Bragg 	 	Broadcaster 	30 December 2017 	
43 (362) 	Lady Antonia Fraser 	 	Author 	30 December 2017 	
44 (363) 	Margaret MacMillan 	 	Historian 	30 December 2017 	
45 (364) 	Richard Henderson 	 	Biologist 	9 June 2018 	
46 (365) 	Dame Kiri Te Kanawa 	, , 	Opera singer 	9 June 2018 	
47 (366) 	Margaret Atwood 	, , 	Author 	29 December 2018 	
48 (367) 	The Lord McLoughlin 	 	Politician 	10 September 2019 	
49 (368) 	Sir Elton John 	 	Musician 	28 December 2019 	
50 (369) 	Sir Keith Thomas 	 	Historian 	28 December 2019 	
51 (370) 	Sir Paul Smith 	 	Fashion designer 	10 October 2020 	
52 (371) 	Sir David Chipperfield 	 	Architect 	31 December 2020 	
53 (372) 	Sir Paul Nurse 	 	Geneticist 	31 December 2021 	
54 (374) 	Sir Quentin Blake 	 	Illustrator 	1 June 2022 	
55 (375) 	Sir Salman Rushdie 	 	Writer 	1 June 2022 	
56 (376) 	Dame Marina Warner 	 	Writer 	1 June 2022 	
57 (377) 	Sir Michael Marmot 	 	Academic 	31 December 2022 	
58 (379) 	Sir Bill Cash 	 	Politician 	9 June 2023 	
59 (380) 	Sir John Bell 	 	Physician 	16 June 2023 	
60 (381) 	Ian McEwan 	 	Writer 	16 June 2023 	
61 (382) 	Dame Anna Wintour 	 	Media executive 	16 June 2023 	
62 (383) 	Dame Shirley Bassey 	 	Singer 	29 December 2023 	
63 (-) 	Vacant following the death of The Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, on 13 May 2023	Vacant following the death of The Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, on 13 May 2023	 	 	
64 (-) 	Vacant following the death of Peter Higgs, on 8 April 2024 	Vacant following the death of Peter Higgs, on 8 April 2024 	 	 	
65 (-) 	Vacant following the death of The Lord Field of Birkenhead, on 23 April 2024 	Vacant following the death of The Lord Field of Birkenhead, on 23 April 2024 	 	 	
=== Honorary members ===
Member number	Name 	Post-nominals	Occupation	Date of appointment	Age
1 (261) 	Amartya Sen	 	Economist 	11 May 2000 	
==See also==
* List of members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
* List of honorary British knights and dames
* List of people who have declined a British honour
==Notes==
==References==
 
Companions of Honour, Order of the
Category:Awards established in 1917