Order of St Michael and St George,Order of the British Empire

The five classes of award to the Order are, in descending order of seniority:

1. Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE)^[a]
2. Knight Commander or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE or DBE)
3. Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)
4. Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)
5. Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)

King George V founded the Order to fill gaps in the British honours system:

• The Most Honourable Order of the Bath honoured only senior military officers and civil servants;
• The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George honoured diplomats and colonial officials;
• The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India and the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire honoured Indian royals and British and Indian officials; and
• The Royal Victorian Order honoured those who had personally served the Royal Family.

In particular, King George V wished to honour the many thousands of people who had served in numerous non-combatant capacities during the First World War. Originally, the Order included only one division; however, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was formally divided into Military and Civil Divisions.^[5] The Order's motto is For God and the Empire.^[1]

At the foundation of the Order, the "Medal of the Order of the British Empire" was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, it was renamed the "British Empire Medal". The British Empire Medal stopped being recommended by the United Kingdom as part of the 1993 reforms to the honours system, but was revived in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.^[6] In addition, the BEM is used by the Cook Islands and by some otherCommonwealth nations.

Knights and Dames Grand Cross[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Name	Post-nominals	Year appointed
The Duke of Edinburgh	KG KT OM ONZ GBE AC QSO GCL CC CMM PC ADC(P)	1953
Sir Peter Le Cheminant	GBE KCB DFC*	1978
Sir Ronald Davison	GBE QC	1978
Sir Hugh Beach	GBE KCB MC	1985
Sir Frank Kitson	GBE KCB MC* DL	1985
Sir Kenneth Newman	GBE QPM	1987
Sir Sze Yuen Chung	GBE GBM	1989
Sir Thomas Eichelbaum	GBE PC QC	1989
Sir David Harcourt-Smith	GBE KCB DFC	1989
The Lord Alliance	GBE KCB	1989
The Lord Vincent of Coleshill	GBE KCB DSO	1990
Sir Jeremy Black	GBE KCB DSO	1990
Sir Alexander Graham	GBE	1990
Sir Patrick Hine	GCB GBE	1991
Sir Brian Jenkins	GBE	1991
Sir Ian Knowles	GBE	1991
Sir Francis McWilliams	GBE	1992
Sir Anthony Skingsley	GBE KCB	1992
Sir Kenneth Eaton	GBE KCB	1994
Sir Bill Wratten	GBE CB AFC	1998
The Lord Rothschild	Bt OM GBE	1998
Sir Peter Abbott	GBE KCB	1999
Sir Stephen Brown	GBE	1999
Sir Anthony Bagnall	GBE KCB	2002
Sir Michael Sydney Perry	GBE	2002
Sir Ronnie Flanagan	GBE QPM	2002
Sir Cyril Taylor	GBE	2004
The Baroness Butler-Sloss	GBE PC	2005
Sir David Cooksey	GBE	2007
Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman	GBE KCB ADC Gen	2011
The Lord King of Lothbury	KG GBE	2011
The Lord Weidenfeld	GBE	2011
The Earl of Selborne	GBE DL	2011
Sir John Parker	GBE	2012
The Baroness Hayman	GBE PC	2012
Sir Keith Mills	GBE DL	2013
Sir Alan Budd	GBE	2013

Honorary[edit]

Name	Post-Nominal	Country	Year appointed
George J. Mitchell	GBE	United States	1999
Ratan Tata	GBE	India	2014

The British Sovereign is the Sovereign of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order (by convention, on the advice of the Government). The next-most senior member is the Grand Master. The office was formerly filled by the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands; now, however, Grand Masters are chosen by the Sovereign. Grand Masters include:

• 1818–1825: Sir Thomas Maitland
• 1825–1850: Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge
• 1850–1904: Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge
• 1904–1910: George, Prince of Wales
• 1910–1917: None
• 1917–1936: Albert Edward, Prince of Wales
• 1936–1957: Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone
• 1957–1959: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
• 1959–1967: Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
• 1967–present: Prince Edward, 2nd Duke of Kent

The Order originally included 15 Knights Grand Cross, 20 Knights Commanders, and 25 Companions but has since been expanded and the current limits on membership are 125, 375, and 1,750 respectively. Members of the Royal Family who are appointed to the Order do not count towards the limit, nor are foreign members appointed as "honorary members".

The Order has six officers. The Order's King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, like many other heraldic officers. The Usher of the Order is known as the Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod; he does not, unlike his Order of the Garter equivalent (the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod), perform any duties related to the House of Lords.

• Prelate - David Urquhart (Bishop of Birmingham)
• Chancellor - The Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, KT, GCMG, PC
• Secretary -
• Registrar -
• King of Arms - Sir Jeremy Greenstock, GCMG
• Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod - Sir Anthony Figgis, KCVO, CMG

Knights and Dames Grand Cross[edit]

Number	Name	Post-Nominals	Year Appointed
1	Sayyid Sir Jamshid bin Abdullah of Zanzibar	GCMG	1963
N/A	HRH The Duke of Kent	KG GCMG GCVO	1967
2	Sir Clive Rose	GCMG	1981
3	The Rt. Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen	KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE PC QC	1982
4	Sir Hugh Cortazzi	GCMG	1984
5	Sir James Craig	GCMG	1984
6	Sir John Thomson	GCMG	1985
7	Sir Antony Acland	KG GCMG GCVO	1986
8	Sir John Fretwell	GCMG	1987
9	Sir George Lepping	GCMG	1988
10	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Carrington	KG GCMG CH MC DL	1988
11	Sir Crispin Tickell	GCMG KCVO	1989
12	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Wright of Richmond	GCMG	1989
13	The Hon. Sir Shridath Ramphal	GCMG AC ONZ OE OM OCC QC	1990
14	The Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Somare	GCL GCMG CH CF KStJ SSI KSG PCMP	1990
15	Dame Catherine Tizard	ONZ GCMG GCVO DBE QSO	1990
16	Sir David Goodall	GCMG	1991
17	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Wilson of Tillyorn	KT GCMG	1991
18	Sir Wiwa Korowi	GCMG	1992
19	Sir Reginald Palmer	GCMG	1992
20	Sir James Carlisle	GCMG	1993
21	Sir Ewen Fergusson	GCMG GCVO	1993
22	Sir Rodric Braithwaite	GCMG	1994
23	Sir Julius Chan	GCL GCMG KBE	1994
24	Sir Colville Young	GCMG MBE	1994
25	Sir Nicholas Fenn	GCMG	1995
26	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Hannay of Chiswick	GCMG CH	1995
27	Sir Orville Turnquest	GCMG QC	1995
28	The Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Hardie Boys	GNZM GCMG QSO	1996
29	Sir Clifford Husbands	GCMG KA QC	1996
30	Sir Christopher Mallaby	GCMG GCVO	1996
31	Sir Tulaga Manuella	GCMG	1996
32	Sir Cuthbert Sebastian	GCMG OBE	1996
33	Sir Daniel Williams	GCMG	1996
34	Sir John Coles	GCMG	1997
35	Sir Silas Atopare	GCL GCMG	1998
36	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Williamson of Horton	GCMG CB PC	1998
37	Sir John Lapli	GCMG	1999
38	Dame Pearlette Louisy	GCMG	1999
39	Sir Andrew Wood	GCMG	2001
40	Sir Tomu Sione	GCMG OBE	2001
41	Sir John Goulden	GCMG	2001
42	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Kerr of Kinlochard	GCMG	2001
43	Sir Tomasi Puapua	GCMG KBE PC	2002
44	Sir David Wright	GCMG LVO	2002
45	Sir Jeremy Greenstock	GCMG	2003
46	Sir Rob Young	GCMG	2003
47	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Robertson of Port Ellen	KT GCMG PC	2004
48	Sir Stephen Wall	GCMG LVO	2004
49	The Rt. Hon. Sir Paulias Matane	GCL GCMG OBE KStJ	2005
50	Sir Nathaniel Waena	GCMG CSI KStJ	2005
51	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon	GCMG KBE PC	2006
52	The Rt. Hon. The Lord Jay of Ewelme	GCMG	2006
53	Sir Emyr Parry	GCMG	2007
54	The Most Hon. Sir Kenneth O. Hall	ON GCMG OJ	2007
55	Dame Louise Lake-Tack	GCMG	2007
56	Sir David Manning	GCMG CVO	2008
57	Sir Carlyle Glean	GCMG	2008
58	His Excellency The Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen	ON GCMG CD	2009
59	Sir Frank Kabui	GCMG CSI OBE	2009
60	Sir Arthur Foulkes	GCMG	2010
61	Sir Iakoba Italeli	GCMG	2010
62	Sir Peter Ricketts	GCMG GCVO	2011
63	Sir Michael Ogio	GCMG CBE	2011
64	Sir Nigel Sheinwald	GCMG	2011
65	Sir Elliott Belgrave	GCMG KA CHB QC	2012
66	Dame Cécile La Grenade	GCMG OBE	2013
67	Sir Edmund Lawrence	GCMG OBE	2013
68	Dame Marguerite Pindling	GCMG	2014
69	Sir Rodney Williams	GCMG	2014