List of Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Below is a List of Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Substantive) from the Order's creation in 1917 until the present day. Honorary Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire can be found at Category:Honorary Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

1910s

• 1917: The Baroness Byron, The Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, Sarah Lees, Edith Lyttelton, The Marchioness of Londonderry, The Baroness Pentland, The Marchioness of Willingdon
• 1918: Eva Anstruther, Caroline Arnott, The Duchess of Atholl, Lady Bell of Rounton Grange, Maud Bevan, Maud Burnett, The Marchioness of Bute, Margaret Davidson, Anna Maria Donner, Alice Godman, Agnes Jekyll, Adelaide Livingstone, Ethel Locke-King, Nellie Melba, Margaret Pryse-Rice, Clarissa Reid, The Viscountess Ridley, The Countess Roberts, Edith Sclater, Flora Shaw, Olive Smith-Dorrien, Janet Stancomb-Wills, The Countess Waldegrave, May Whitty
• 1919: Rachel Crowdy, The Countess of Darnley, Lady Blanche Gordon-Lennox, Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, Henrietta Henderson, The Countess of Harrowby, Mary Monro, The Baroness Mount Stephen, The Baroness Northcote, Sarah Oram, Florence Simpson, Una O'Dwyer

1920s

• 1920: Georgiana Buller, Clara Butt, Alice Chisholm, The Countess of Eglinton, The Countess of Gosford, Catherine Hunt, The Countess of Leicester, The Baroness Melchett, Beryl Oliver, Ethel Maud Pearson, Una Pope-Hennessy, Louise Samuel, The Viscountess Rhondda, Ethel Shakespear, The Baroness Talbot of Malahide, Meriel Talbot, Catherine Wingate, Sophia Wintz
• 1921: Adelaide Anderson, Edith Dixon, Genevieve Ward
• 1922: The Viscountess Greenwood, Margaret Greville, Ethel Smyth
• 1923: Belle Cox, Barbara Strickland
• 1924: Louisa Aldrich-Blake, Henrietta Barnett, Caroline Bridgeman, Janet Campbell, Beatrix Lyall
• 1925: Emma Albani, Mary Cook, Louisa Lumsden, The Baroness St Helier, Anne Smith, Mary Wills
• 1926: Agnes Hunt, Madge Kendal, Maude Lawrence, Jessie Phipps, Mary Scharlieb
• 1927: The Countess of Cavan, The Countess of Stradbroke, The Viscountess Templewood, The Countess of Jersey, Emily Penrose
• 1928: The Duchess of Bedford, Elizabeth Wordsworth, Frances Dove
• 1929: Alida Brittain, Harriet Findlay, Gertrude Humphrys, Laura Knight, Anne McIlroy, Bertha Phillpotts

1930s

• 1930: Mary Bailey
• 1931: Joanna Cruickshank, Sarah Mair, Sybil Thorndike
• 1932: Margaret Tuke, Edith Brown
• 1933: The Baroness Denman, The Viscountess Simon
• 1934: Elizabeth Cadbury, Alicia Lloyd Still
• 1935: The Duchess of Portland, May Ogilvie-Gordon, Rosalind Paget
• 1936: Regina Evans, The Baroness Gilmour, The Duchess of Abercorn, Christabel Pankhurst
• 1937: Edith Anderson, Geraldine Cadbury, Mary Gilmore, Ellen Pinsent, Juliet Rhys-Williams, The Baroness Strickland, Marie Tempest, Violet Wills
• 1938: The Countess of Elgin, Florence Lambert, Gwendoline Trubshaw
• 1939: The Baroness Hillingdon, Ellen Musson

1940s

• 1941: The Viscountess Craigavon, Myra Hess, The Marchioness of Reading, Reniera Stanley, Irene Vanbrugh
• 1942: Katharine Jones
• 1943: Emily Blair, Lilian Braithwaite, Anne Loughlin, Ethel Walker
• 1944: Doris Beale, Jane Trefusis Forbes, Lilian Barker
• 1945: Joan Marsham, Vera Laughton Mathews, Katherine Watt
• 1946: Edith Evans, The Countess of Limerick, The Duchess of Richmond, Mary Welsh, Leslie Whateley
• 1947: Madeline Brock, Gertrude Cosgrove, Evelyn Fox, Matilda Goodrich, Caroline Haslett, Emmeline Tanner, Eileen Walwyn
• 1948: The Baroness Sharp, Louisa Wilkinson
• 1949: Harriette Chick, Myra Curtis, Anne Curwen, Alix Kilroy, Dehra Parker, Felicity Peake, Mary Smieton, Gladys Taylor, Mary Tyrwhitt

1950s

• 1950: Helen Cargill, Marjorie Cox, Frances Farrer, Adeline Genée, Grace Kimmins, Olive Wheeler, Jocelyn Woollcombe
• 1951: Ellen Acton, Florence Cardell-Oliver, Mary Daly, Elizabeth Gilmer, Florence Hancock, Hilda Lloyd, Lillian Penson, Anne Thomson, Ninette de Valois
• 1952: Florence Bevin, Kathleen Courtney, The Viscountess Davidson, Mary Lloyd, Marjorie Maxse, Flora Robson
• 1953: The Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, Cynthia Colville, Mary Coulshed, Catherine Fulford, Elisabeth Kelly, Flora MacLeod of MacLeod, Enid Russell-Smith
• 1954: Lilian Bromley-Davenport, Helen Gillespie, Edith Sitwell
• 1955: Mabel Brookes, Elizabeth Cockayne, The Countess of Rosebery, Nancy Salmon, Irene Ward, Roberta Whyte
• 1956: The Countess of Albemarle, Peggy Ashcroft, Margot Fonteyn, Kathleen Lonsdale, Mary Railton, Hilda Ross, Lucile Sayers
• 1957: Anne Bryans, The Viscountess Kilmuir, Annabelle Rankin, Nancy Robertson, Janet Vaughan
• 1958: Mary Barnett, Katharine Elliot, Monica Golding, Mary Jones, Rose Macaulay, The Duchess of Portland, Maggie Teyte, Alice Williamson
• 1959: The Viscountess Brookeborough, Ruth Buckley, Mary Colvin, Rebecca West

1960s

• 1960: Judith Anderson, Alice Berry, The Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte, Alice Lowrey, Evelyn Hoyer-Miller, Elizabeth Millar, Merlyn Myer
• 1961: Kitty Anderson, Elizabeth Couchman, Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Ethel Stabb, Anne Stephens
• 1962: Anne Godwin, Edith Pitt, Jean Roberts, Barbara Salt, Eva Turner
• 1963: Barbara Cozens, Jean Davies, Honor Fell, Alicia Markova, Elisabeth Murdoch, Jean Conan Doyle
• 1964: Veronica Ashworth, Jean Rivett-Drake, Margaret Shepherd, Joan Vickers, The Baroness Wakehurst, Eileen Younghusband
• 1965: The Baroness Adrian, Florence Cayford, Mabel Crout, Joanna Henderson, Barbara Hepworth, Elizabeth Lane, Catherine Scott, Margot Turner
• 1966: Elsie Abbott, Edith Drummond, Felicity Hill, Elizabeth Manning, Ngaio Marsh, Anne McEwen, Ruth Railton, Grace Tebbutt, Mabel Tylecote
• 1967: The Countess of Brecknock, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Gladys Cooper, Margery Corbett Ashby, Helen Gardner, Pauline Giles, Mabel Miller, Beryl Paston Brown, Margaret Rutherford, Ivy Wedgwood, Albertine Winner
• 1968: Zara Bate, Annis Gillie, Isabel Graham-Bryce, Mary Green, Muriel Powell, Kathleen Raven, Hilda Stevenson, Muriel Stewart, Dorothy Tangney, Veronica Wedgwood, Ethel Wormald
• 1969: Rita Buxton, Hilda Bynoe, Mary Cartwright, Daphne du Maurier, Lady Olwen Carey Evans, Molly Gibbs, Ella Macknight, Anna Neagle, Sister Mary Regis, Lucy Stuart Sutherland, Elizabeth Yarwood

1970s

• 1970: Dorothy Ackroyd, Mary M. Anderson, Te Atairangikaahu, Sara Barker, Bessie Bottomley, Margaret Cole, Marion Kettlewell, Margaret Miles, Peggy van Praagh
• 1971: Kate Isabel Campbell, Agatha Christie, Mary Cramer, Adelaide Doughty, Kathleen Ollerenshaw
• 1972: Nancy Buttfield, Cicely Courtneidge, Muriel Harris, Unity Lister, The Baroness Plowden, Freya Stark, Susan Walker
• 1973: Sylvia Crowe, Kathleen Kenyon, Sister Mary Leo, Marjorie Williamson
• 1974: Josephine Barnes, Emma Clode, The Baroness Denington of Stevenage, Phyllis Frost, Joan Hammond, Rose Heilbron, Albertha Isaacs, The Viscountess Macmillan of Ovenden, Margot Smith
• 1975: Jacobena Angliss, Helen Blaxland, Bridget D'Oyly Carte, Joyce Daws, Frances Gardner, Wendy Hiller, Margaret Kidd, Ruth Kirk, Vera Lynn, Dorothy Rees, Betty Ridley
• 1976: Janet Baker, Edith Burnside, Joan Evans, Violet Dickson, Monica Gallagher, Elizabeth Hill, Ada Norris
• 1977: Lady Moyra Browne, Patricia Mackinnon, Rosemary Murray, Iris Origo, Marjorie Parker, Cecily Pickerill, Winifred Prentice, Frances Yates
• 1978: Isobel Baillie, Mary Durack, Audrey Reader, Sheila Sherlock
• 1979: Mary Austin, Margaret Booth, Sister Philippa Brazill, Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, Elizabeth Coker, Gracie Fields, Judith Hart, Naomi James, Doris Johnson, Daphne Purves, Joan Sutherland, Margaret Weston

1980s

• 1980: Edith Bolte, Rachel Cleland, Miriam Dell, Phyllis Friend, Margaret Guilfoyle, Ida Mann, Raigh Roe, Cicely Saunders, The Baroness Soames, Ann Springman
• 1981: Beryl Beaurepaire, Margaret Blackwood, Mary Bridges, Whina Cooper, Pamela Hunter, Celia Johnson, Ruby Litchfield, Betty Paterson, The Baroness Pike, Shelagh Roberts, Margaret Scott
• 1982: Doris Fitton, Elisabeth Frink, Catherine M. Hall, Roma Mitchell, Kiri Te Kanawa, Alice Wedega, Ida Yonge
• 1983: The Marchioness of Anglesey, Rosamund Holland-Martin, Leonie Kramer, Olga Uvarov
• 1984: The Baroness Seccombe, Guinevere Tilney, Catherine Tizard, Mary Warnock
• 1985: Jean Herbison, The Baroness Jenkins of Hillhead, Jill Knight, Alison Munro, Joan Varley
• 1986: Vivienne Boyd, Peggy Fenner, Dorothea Horsman, Christian Howard, Gwyneth Jones, Merle Park, Simone Prendergast, Barbara Shenfield, Rosa Tokiel
• 1987: Elizabeth Chesterton, Marie Clay, Dorothy Fraser, Penelope Jessel, Mary Kekedo, Elizabeth Maconchy, Joan Metge, Iris Murdoch, Sheila Quinn
• 1988: Beryl Grey, Barbara Clayton, Judi Dench, Rosalinde Hurley, Elaine Kellett-Bowman, Laurie Salas
• 1989: Silvia Cartwright, The Baroness Dunn, The Baroness Emerton, Janet Fookes, Margaret Fry, Barbara Goodman, Rosemary Rue

1990s

• 1990: Josephine Abaijah, Venetia Blaize, Joyanne Bracewell, The Baroness Hylton-Foster, The Baroness Lloyd of Highbury, Maggie Smith, Miraka Szászy, Rachel Waterhouse, Dorothy Winstone
• 1991: Barbara Cartland, Stella Casey, Eugenia Charles, The Baroness Digby, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Jane Gow, Malvina Major, Shirley Porter, Paddy Ridsdale, Lucie Rie, Sue Tinson, Margaret Turner-Warwick
• 1992: Jocelyn Barrow, Ann Ebsworth, Rangimarie Hetet, Edna Lewis, Moura Lympany, Wendy Mitchell, Shirley Oxenbury, Anne Poole, Norma Restieaux, Angela Rumbold, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, The Baroness Serota, Janet Smith
• 1993: Mary H. Arden, Reubina Ballin, Patricia Bergquist, Catherine Cookson, Mary Corsar, Pat Evison, Mary Glen-Haig, Phyllis Guthardt, Louise Henderson, Thora Hird, Dawn Lamb, Anne McLaren, Thea Muldoon, Annette Penhaligon, Margaret Price, Muriel Spark, Heather Steel, Augusta Wallace
• 1994: Margaret Brain, Hazel Byford, Brenda Hale, Marea Hartman, Georgina Kirby, Eileen Mayo, Diana Rigg, Gillian Wagner
• 1995: Joyce Anelay, Elizabeth Anson, Josephine Barstow, Marjorie Bean, June Clark, Margaret Clark, Sister Pauline Engel, Elizabeth Esteve-Coll, Elizabeth Harper, Rosalyn Higgins, Mary Hogg, Anne Salmond, The Baroness Thorneycroft
• 1996: Fiona Caldicott, The 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth, Jane Drew, Rennie Fritchie, Felicity Lott, Sheila Noakes, Antoinette Sibley, Gillian Weir
• 1997: Rachael Dyche, Deirdre Hine, Cleo Laine, Barbara Mills, Bridget Ogilvie, Joan Sawyer, Rosanna Wong Yick-ming
• 1998: Gillian Beer, Lorna Boreland-Kelly, Patricia Collarbone, Tamsyn Imison, Betty Kershaw, Helen Metcalf, Gillian Oliver, Ruth Runciman, Veronica Sutherland, Mary Uprichard
• 1999: Jill Black, Lois Browne-Evans, A. S. Byatt, Diana Collins, Pauline Fielding, Mavis Grant, Heather Hallett, Norma Major, Yvonne Moores, Helen Reeves, Margaret Seward, Helena Shovelton, Lesley Southgate

2000s

• 2000: Julie Andrews, Beryl Bainbridge, Shirley Bassey, Beulah Bewley, Marie Descartes, Vivien Duffield, Anne Evans, Glynne Evans, Geraldine Keegan, Judith Kilpatrick, Jill Macleod Clark, Patricia Morgan-Webb, Lorna Muirhead, Mary Peters, Anne Rafferty, Marlene Robottom, Miriam Rothschild, Steve Shirley, Patricia Symmonds, Elizabeth Taylor, Dorothy Tutin
• 2001: Ingrid Allen, Eileen Atkins, The Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, Wendy Davies, Karlene Davis, Jill Ellison, Jean Else, Julia Higgins, Sharon Hollows, Thea King, Sheila McKechnie, Sally Powell, Lesley Rees, Mary Richardson, Dela Smith, Marilyn Strathern, Janet Trotter
• 2002: Margaret Barbour, Laura Cox, Ruth Deech, Catherine Elcoat, Judith Mayhew, Jessica Rawson, Janet Ritterman, Marjorie Scardino, Meg Taylor, Sheila Wallis
• 2003: Elizabeth Blackadder, Yvonne Buckland, Pamela Coward, Pauline Green, Louise Johnson, Helen Mirren, Elizabeth Neville, Anna Pauffley, Julia Polak, Anita Roddick, Ruth Robins, Rita Weller, Jenifer Wilson-Barnett
• 2004: Florence Baron, Enid Bibby, The Baroness Brittan of Spennithorne, Alexandra Burslem, Hilary Cropper, Sandra Dawson, Linda Dobbs, Jacqueline Docherty, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gloster, Joan Harbison, Pauline Harris, Patricia Hodgson, Elisabeth Hoodless, Olwen Hufton, Deirdre Hutton, Gillian Morgan, Julia Neuberger, Denise Platt, Joan Plowright, Jane Roberts, Marion Roe, Gail Ronson
• 2005: Carol M. Black, Maureen Brennan, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Kelly Holmes, Carol Kidu, Ellen MacArthur, Mary Macdonald, Julia Macur, Sarah Mullally, Gillian Pugh, Nancy Rothwell, Jennifer Smith, Caroline Swift, Jean Thomas, Fanny Waterman
• 2006: Averil Cameron, Liz Forgan, Anna Hassan, Carole Jordan, Suzi Leather, Julie Mellor, Janet Nelson, Daphne Sheldrick, Ruth Silver, Vivienne Westwood
• 2007: Yasmin Bevan, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Marcela Contreras, Mary Douglas, Ann Dowling, Evelyn Glennie, Joan Higgins, Janet Husband, Mary Keegan, Barbara Kelly, Emma Kirkby, Ann Leslie, Mary Marsh, Mary Perkins, Josephine Williams
• 2008: Joan Bakewell, Christine Beasley, Hilary Blume, Lynne Brindley, Kay Davies, Margaret Drabble, Janet Finch, Clara Furse, Eleanor King, Donna Kinnair, Monica Mason, The Baroness O'Loan of Kirkinriola, Judith Parker, Sonia Proudman, Fiona Reynolds, Elizabeth Slade, Barbara Stocking, Mary Tanner, Jacqueline Wilson
• 2009: Jenny Abramsky, Sally Davies, Elizabeth Fradd, Barbara Hakin, Wendy Hall, Anne Owers, Linda Partridge, Gail Rebuck, Philippa Russell, Rosalind Savill, Victoria Sharp, Joan Stringer, Mitsuko Uchida

2010s

• 2010: Val Beral, Claire Bertschinger, Monica Dacon, Athene Donald, Ellen Eaton, Amelia Fawcett, Jacqueline Fisher, Janet Gaymer, Julia Goodfellow, Susan Ion, Barbara Monroe, Janet Paraskeva, Paula Rego, Alison Richard, Clare Tickell, Marcia Twelftree, Naila Zaffar
• 2011: Helen Alexander, Elish Angiolini, Patricia Bacon, Anne Begg, Ruth Carnall, Rosemary Cramp, Antonia Fraser, Caroline Humphrey, Susan John, Reena Keeble, Sally MacIntyre, Jenni Murray, Felicity Palmer, Indira Patel, Janet Suzman, Lady Wallace of Saltaire, Harriet Walter
• 2012: Glynis Breakwell, Moira Gibb, Judith Hill, Penelope Lively, Julie Moore, Sylvia Morris, Joan Ruddock

See also

• List of Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
• List of Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire