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Family Order

Royal Family Orders are a personal gift of a Sovereign and are given by the monarch only to female members of the Royal Family. There is a different decoration for each reign, bearing a miniature portrait of the monarch surrounded by diamonds. It is the tradition for most royal families. In Great Britain, this custom was introduced by King George I, the first of the Hanoverian monarchs. Until the end of Queen Victoria's reign the Order consisted of a cameo miniature set in diamonds. Edward VII introduced its present form of a portrait which was painted on ovory. A new family order was established at the start of each reign but the list was never published. Its presence is only known when the recipient wears it in public. The badge is worn on evening dresses only or on State Occasions on the left shoulder attached to a heavy fringed silk bow.

The Royal Order Of Victoria And Albert was instituted 10 February 1862, the anniversary of Her Majesty's marriage, as a private or family Order. It was extended in 1864, 1865, and 1880, and consisted of four classes. The first includes the Sovereign's nearest female relatives-her daughters, daughters-in-law, the daughters of the Prince of Wales-and Foreign Sovereigns. The second class includes Her Majesty's junior grand-daughters. The third is for Peeresses who have held high office at Court, or are personal friends of the Sovereign. The fourth is for ladies who have served Her Majesty as Maids of Honour, Bed-chamber Women, etc.

The decoration is an oval medallion, on which are sculptured, in profile, the heads of Her Majesty and the late Prince Consort. This oval is enclosed by a double border of brilliants, the external outline in the case of the first being slightly broken seven times by a square projection containing a larger gem. The Badge is surmounted by an Imperial Crown ; this, and the loop by which it is attached to a bow of inoird watered white ribbon, are of brilliants. The Badge is worn at or near the left shoulder by all classes. The Badge of the Second Class is similar, but somewhat smaller ; and the central medallion is enclosed by an oval border composed of a single row of diamonds. The Badge of the Third Class is also oval and crowned. The centre contains the heads of Queen VICTORIA and Prince Albert as above. The oval bordure of twenty pearls set in gold is interrupted in four places by a small square projection, set with a diamond. The Badge of the Fourth Class is the jewelled cypher V. and A. beneath an Imperial Crown.

The possession of the Order confers no special precedence. Not awarded since the death of Queen Victoria.

The Royal Victorian Order was instituted by Queen Victoria on the 25th of April 1896, and conferred for personal services rendered to her majesty and her successors on the throne. As it is a family order, conferment of this honour is solely at the discretion of the British sovereign. Unlike other British orders, there is no limit on the number of members. It was Edward VIII, during his brief reign (1936), who admitted women to the order.

This was the first British order to consist of more than three classes which, listed in descending order, are Knights or Dames Grand Cross (GCVO) Knights or Dames Commanders (KCVO or DCVO), Commanders (CVO), Lieutenants (LVO), Members (MVO), and in addition Medals (RVM) gold, silver and bronze, the distinction between these last divisions lying in the badge and in the precedence enjoyed by the members. All social grades can receive a suitable decoration, so the Prince of Wales may be at one end and a Highland gillie at the other. Conferment of the two highest classes entails admission into knighthood. Foreigners can be admitted as honorary members. The knights of this order ranked in their respective classes immediately after those of the Indian Empire.

Associated with this order is the Royal Victorian Medal, awarded for personal military service to the monarch. King Edward added a Royal Victorian Chain to the Order which is only bestowed on very special occasions. The Royal Victorian Order, as extended by H.M. King Edward VII, includes the Royal Victorian Chain, Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commanders, Commanders, Members of the Fourth Class and Members of the Fifth Class. There is no collar for the order, but the King occasionally bestows, as an extreme mark of favour, " The Royal Victorian Chain," a decoration not governed by express Statute. The Royal Victorian Chain is entirely distinct from the Insignia of the Order. It may be bestawed in conjunction with, or in addition to, or without, the Grand Cross of the Order, and is worn on all occasions when the Riband is worn, either in Full Dress, Uniform, or in Evening Dress.

The day of the order is June 20, marking the date of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. Since 1938, the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy, London, has been the chapel of the order, where the royal family and knights and dames grand cross have affixed their stall plates bearing their coats of arms. The order's badge depicts a Maltese Cross with the motto "Victoria," the initials "V.R.I.," and an imperial crown. The Badge is in the form of a cross of white enamel, in the centre of which is a medallion having Queen Victoria's cipher in the middle, and the word Victoria on a blue enamel garter round the cipher. Above is an imperial crown in enamel proper. The Stars of the Grand Cross and Knight Commander of the Order are of silver and of different patterns and sizes. There is no mantle or robe to this Order.