Composition
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: HRH The Duke of Cambridge
- 1850–1904: HRH The Duke of Cambridge
- 1904–1910: HRH The Prince of Wales
- 1910–1917: None
- 1917–1936: HRH The Prince of Wales
- 1936–1957: The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Athlone
- 1957–1959: The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Halifax
- 1959–1967: The Rt. Hon. The Earl Alexander of Tunis
- 1967–present: HRH The Duke of Kent
The Order originally included 15 Knights Grand Cross, 20 Knights Commanders and 25 Companions. Several expansions have been made; now, the limits are 125, 375 and 1750, respectively. Members of the Royal Family who are appointed to the Order do not count towards the limit; neither do foreigners appointed as "honorary members".
The Order has six officers: the Prelate (as of 2006 the Rt Revd David Urquhart), the Chancellor, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms and the Usher. 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.
Read more about this topic: Order Of St Michael And St George
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
“The naive notion that a mother naturally acquires the complex skills of childrearing simply because she has given birth now seems as absurd to me as enrolling in a nine-month class in composition and imagining that at the end of the course you are now prepared to begin writing War and Peace.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading is not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction.”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
“Viewed freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race, and range of time, and is both the free and compacted composition of all.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)