Order of the Garter

• 1. Introduction

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  The motto of the Order of the Garter reads Honi soit qui mal y pense. That Anglo-Norman French phrase means 'shamed be the person who thinks evil of it.' King Edward III established this order in 1348. Within Britain's honours system, it stands above every other knighthood, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George Cross. Why would a king choose a garter as the emblem of his most prestigious brotherhood? Why did that motto carry political meaning that had nothing to do with clothing? And what happened when a member turned against the Crown?

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• 2. A King's French Ambition

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  Edward III was pressing a claim to the French throne when he shaped the Order's founding purpose. The motto, far from being a gentlemanly rebuke to gossiping courtiers, was directed at anyone who doubted his right to rule France. The garter as emblem may have derived from straps used to fasten armour, carrying overtones of a tight-knit 'band' of knightly supporters of Edward's cause. The Order's foundation drew likely inspiration from the Castilian Order of the Band, established around 1330.

  The founding date has never been settled with certainty. The Complete Peerage records the Order as first instituted on the 23rd of April 1344, listing each founding member as knighted that year. One of those founders, Sir Sanchet D'Abrichecourt, appears in records as recently as the 20th of October 1345. The King's wardrobe account confirms that Garter habits were first issued in the autumn of 1348. Scholars have proposed dates ranging from 1344 to 1351.

  At the Order's founding, Edward III gathered 25 Founder Knights around himself. They included his son, Edward the Black Prince, and Henry of Grosmont, 4th Earl of Lancaster. Sir John Chandos, Sir James Audley, and Sir Nele Loring were among the military figures on the roll. All 25 are depicted in the Bruges Garter Book, compiled around 1431 and now held in the British Library. Candidates were last formally nominated for membership in 1860; since then the sovereign has made all appointments alone, without political influence.

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• 3. Legends and a Lost Countess

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  The most popular legend about the Order's name involves a countess at a court ball at Calais. Her garter slipped from her leg while she was dancing. When those around her laughed, King Edward picked it up and returned it with words that became the Order's motto. The story is appealing, but the earliest written version dates only from the 1460s, more than a century after the Order was founded. By the 15th century, the garter had come to be seen as an item of female underclothing, making the legend feel like a retrospective explanation. At the time of the Order's founding, garters were worn predominantly by men.

  A second legend traces the garter's origins to King Richard I at the siege of Acre. According to Rastel's Chronicle, as reported in a letter to The Annual Register in 1774, only 26 knights stood firmly by Richard at that siege. He bound garters of blue leather around their legs. Those men were afterwards called the Knights of the Blue Thong. The letter's author credits this account to John Fenn, Esq., described as a curious and ingenious gentleman of East-Dereham in Norfolk.

  The Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written in the late 14th century, has its own connection to the Order. The motto Honi soit qui mal y pense appears inscribed at the end of the poem's sole surviving manuscript, held in the British Library, in a later hand. In the poem, a magical girdle plays a central role, carrying erotic overtones similar to those of the garter. Scholars have identified a rough equivalent of the Order's motto in Gawain's exclamation 'corsed worth cowarddyse and couetyse bothe' (v. 2374), roughly translated as 'cursed be both cowardice and coveting.' Two leading candidates for the poem's authorship had direct ties to the Order: John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and Enguerrand de Coucy. De Coucy married King Edward III's daughter, Isabella, and was admitted to the Order on their wedding day.

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• 4. Ladies of the Garter

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  Queen Philippa entered the Order in 1358, the first woman to hold the title of Lady of the Garter. Whether these early female appointees counted as full Companions was debated, since they were not knights. The practice continued for over a century before King Henry VII discontinued it in 1488. His mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was the last Lady of the Garter before the title fell dormant.

  Queen Alexandra was the next to be named, appointed by her husband, King Edward VII. King George V extended the title to his consort, Queen Mary. King George VI did the same for his wife, Queen Elizabeth, and also appointed his daughter, Princess Elizabeth, who later became Queen Elizabeth II.

  In 1987, a statute of Queen Elizabeth II made the installation of Ladies Companion of the Garter formally possible. In 2022, Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, became the first Black Lady Companion since the Order's founding. On the 18th of June 2024, Eliza Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller, became the first Lady Companion to be appointed Chancellor of the Order. Unlike previous queens consort, Queen Camilla received the title while still the Duchess of Cornwall, named by her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II.

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• 5. Poor Knights of Windsor

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  At the founding of the Order, 26 men known as 'poor knights' were attached to it as bedesmen. Their task was to pray daily for the Knights Companion; in return, they received a salary and lodging in Windsor Castle. By the 17th century, the number had fallen to 13. King Charles II raised it to 18 after his coronation in 1660, drawing partly on funds from Sir Francis Crane's will.

  The poor knights objected to their title, and King William IV redesignated them in the 19th century as the Military Knights of Windsor. They are still retired military officers, participating in the Order's processions and chapel services, though they are not considered members of the Order. Today they wear the uniform of an army officer on the unattached list. This consists of black trousers with a red stripe and a red double-breasted swallow-tailed coat. Gold epaulets and brushes, a cocked hat with a plume, and a sword on a white baldric complete the dress. Their original red mantles bore St George's Cross but not the Garter emblem. Queen Elizabeth I replaced them with blue and purple gowns in the 16th and 17th centuries. The red mantles returned under King Charles I before being abandoned when the knights were renamed.

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• 6. The Ceremony of Disgrace

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  The formal ritual of degradation sent a disgraced member's heraldic regalia tumbling through St George's Chapel. Garter King of Arms, accompanied by the other Heralds, would process to the chapel. While the Garter King read aloud the Instrument of Degradation, a Herald climbed a ladder. The Herald removed the former Knight's banner, crest, helm, and sword, throwing them into the quire below. Then the Heralds kicked them the full length of the chapel, out through the doors, and into the castle ditch. The last formal degradation of this kind took place in 1716, when James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, was stripped of his membership.

  During the First World War, two Royal Knights and six Stranger Knights were removed from the Order in 1915. Those struck off included Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and Prince Henry of Prussia. All were monarchs or princes of nations then at war with Britain. The banner of King Victor Emmanuel III was removed from St George's Chapel after Italy entered World War II in 1940. Emperor Hirohito's banner was removed when Japan entered the war in 1941. Elizabeth II restored Hirohito's banner and knighthood in 1971, during his state visit to the United Kingdom. The Emperor was particularly pleased by the restoration.

  In 2025, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was struck off the roll amid controversy surrounding his association with Jeffrey Epstein. His appointment was annulled on the 30th of October 2025, and his banner was removed from the chapel. The stall plates memorializing former members remain in St George's Chapel permanently, even after their banners and crests have been removed.

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• 7. Vestments and Ceremony

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  Each June, on Garter Day, the members of the Order gather at Windsor Castle wearing vestments that have evolved across centuries. New Knights or Ladies are first invested in the Throne Room of Windsor Castle. Two senior companions help the Sovereign fasten the garter around the new member's left leg or arm. A state luncheon in the Banqueting Room follows. Afterwards, the full procession walks through Windsor Castle and down the hill to St George's Chapel for a service of worship.

  The mantle, worn since the 15th century, was originally made of wool and later of velvet. Purple at its origins, the mantle shifted through celestial blue, pale blue, royal blue, dark blue, violet, and ultramarine during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today it is dark blue, lined with white taffeta. The heraldic shield of St George's Cross is sewn onto the left shoulder. Over the right shoulder hang a dark red velvet hood and surcoat, elements that have long since lost any practical function.

  The collar, introduced in the 15th and 16th centuries, is made of pure gold and weighs 30 troy ounces. It consists of gold heraldic knots alternating with enamelled medallions, each showing a rose encircled by the Garter. During the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), the collar's rose design was altered to mark the end of the Wars of the Roses. Each garter had previously enclosed two roses, one red for Lancaster and one white for York. Henry VII replaced them with a single Tudor rose. A version of this collar can be seen today on the gates of Buckingham Palace, forming part of the monarch's heraldic achievement.

  Suspended from the collar is the Great George, a three-dimensional enamelled figure of St George on horseback slaying a dragon. For less formal occasions, members wear the star. Introduced by King Charles I in the 17th century, the star shows a colourfully enamelled depiction of St George's Cross encircled by the Garter. The riband, also introduced by Charles I, is a four-inch sash worn over the left shoulder. Its colour was originally light blue, then darkened under the Hanoverian monarchs, before being fixed as 'kingfisher blue' in 1950. On the death of a member, the Lesser George and breast star are returned personally to the sovereign by the former member's nearest male relative.

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