Letter from London

The Honors List: Sense and Nonsense

One of our quaint English customs is to issue twice yearly, on New Year’s Day and in summer on the sovereign’s official birthday, an Honors List containing the names of many hundreds of people who receive earldoms, baronies, knighthoods or membership or promotion in one of the orders of chivalry. The latest Honors List, for instance, created two new barons—Sir John Harding and Sir Norman Birkett, three baronets and thirty-six knights. One hundred eleven awards, one out of seven, went to women; the best known probably being novelist Rose Macaulay, who becomes a Dame of the British Empire. The List is divided into sections, the largest and most general being the Prime Minister’s List, which is followed by the Foreign Office List, the Commonwealth Relations Office List, the Colonial Office List, the three service lists, and so on. Far more people get letters after their names than titles in front of them.

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Anthony Lejeune

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The Honors List: Sense and Nonsense

One of our quaint English customs is to issue twice yearly, on New Year’s Day and in summer on the sovereign’s official birthday, an Honors List containing the names of many hundreds of people who receive earldoms, baronies, knighthoods or membership or promotion in one of the orders of chivalry. The latest Honors List, for instance, created two new barons—Sir John Harding and Sir Norman Birkett, three baronets and thirty-six knights. One hundred eleven awards, one out of seven, went to women; the best known probably being novelist Rose Macaulay, who becomes a Dame of the British Empire. The List is divided into sections, the largest and most general being the Prime Minister’s List, which is followed by the Foreign Office List, the Commonwealth Relations Office List, the Colonial Office List, the three service lists, and so on. Far more people get letters after their names than titles in front of them.