|
From Lady Penelope Gilbey |
|
Director |
|
THE BRITISH EMPIRE COLLECTION was founded in 1977, year of the Diamond Jubilee of the Order of the British Empire, under the early patronage of Sir Denis Blundell, Governor-General of New Zealand. The purpose is to produce under the auspices of Officers of Arms to The Queen items inspired by the Order for wear or display by holders and medallists and by members of their families. The late John Brooke-Little, one-time Clarenceux King of Arms, was our Consultant from 1981 to 2006. King George V instituted the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1917 'in recognition of the manifold services, voluntary and otherwise, that have been rendered both by British subjects and their Allies in connection with the war'. The Order of the British Empire established a fount of honour which was socially neutral. The inaugural list of names recognised every facet of war service at home and abroad among civilians, and was followed a year later by a military division. An even more radical change proclaimed by the newest order of chivalry was the admittance of women on an absolute equality with men. By the custom of the time it was a bold decision. Not until 1918 did women of thirty or more qualify for the vote; women between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-nine had to wait until 1928 for their political emancipation. As Sovereign of the new Order the King wished to show that he esteemed it no less than the older, more patrician Orders of Chivalry. He therefore appointed his eldest son, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and later still the Duke of Windsor) to be its first Grand Master. In the intervening years there have been only two other Grand Masters: the widowed Queen Mary and the Duke of Edinburgh. The British Empire Collection is not associated with the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood which has responsibility for the official insignia or medal. In 2007 the Order of the British Empire celebrated its 90th Birthday with the official confirmation that the future of the Order is secure and the publication of an up-to-date history. |