Crown Honours Lists

Crown Honours Lists are lists of honours conferred upon citizens of the Commonwealth realms. The awards are presented by or in the name of the reigning monarch, currently King Charles III, or his vice-regal representative.

New Year Honours

Honours have been awarded at New Year since at least 1890, in which year a list of Queen Victoria's awards was published in The London Gazette on 2 January.^[1] There was no honours list at New Year 1902, as a list had been published on the new king's birthday the previous November,^[2] but from January 1903 until 1909 a list (including only Indian orders) was published. The other orders were announced on the king's birthday in November.

Australia has discontinued New Year Honours, and now announces its honours on Australia Day, 26 January, and the King's Official Birthday holiday, in early June.

Australia Day Honours

The Australia Day honours were established in 1975 to replace the New Year Honours in Australia. The list is issued on 26 January every year.^[3]

Birthday Honours

Birthday Honours are part of the celebration of the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, or their deputy.

Known as King's Birthday Honours (Queen's Birthday Honours in times of a female monarch), all royal honours are published in the London Gazette, Canada Gazette, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette and New Zealand Gazette. The lists are also published in the daily newspapers of each realm.

Honours have been awarded on the monarch's birthday since at least 9 November 1901, the birthday of King Edward VII (r. 1901–1910).^[4]^[5] After 1908 the monarch's official birthday was moved to the first, second or third Saturday in June (for the UK). Other Commonwealth realms celebrate the official birthday on different dates (generally late May or early June), and release their honours lists accordingly.

Coronation Honours

Coronation honours are awarded by the sovereign to mark their coronation. The honours are usually those within the sovereign's personal gift.

Jubilee Honours

Jubilee honours are awarded by the sovereign to mark their jubilee. The honours are usually those within the sovereign's personal gift.

Demise Honours

Demise honours are awarded after the death of a member of a royal consort or member of the royal family, examples include the honours awarded after the deaths of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in 2002, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 2021, and Queen Elizabeth II in 2023.

Dissolution Honours

The Dissolution Honours List lists recipients of honours from the monarch after the dissolution of Parliament. Typically, the list will include retiring MPs, some of whom are customarily made life peers. The list may also include knighthoods for others who have served in Parliament, including those who may not want peerages. Appointments to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom are also made.

Prime Minister's Resignation Honours

The Prime Minister's Resignation Honours in the United Kingdom are honours granted at the behest of an outgoing Prime Minister following his or her resignation. In such a list, a Prime Minister may ask the monarch to bestow peerages, or other lesser honours, on any number of people of his or her choosing. At times, the appointments created controversy: for example the 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, also known as "the Lavender List", about which BBC Four produced a docudrama.^[6]

An earlier scandal over David Lloyd George's 1922 Dissolution Honours list resulted in the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.^[6] Tony Blair did not issue a list, apparently because of the "Cash for Honours" scandal.^[7] Gordon Brown did not publish a resignation honours list either,^[8]^[9] but a dissolution list was issued on his advice (to similar effect).^[6] David Cameron revived the practice in his 2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours published on 4 August following his July resignation.^[10]

Bravery Council Honours

Bravery Council honours lists recipients of Australian bravery honours. The lists are issued twice a year, in March and August.

Special honours

As part of the British honours system, Special Honours are issued at the Monarch's pleasure at any given time. The Special Honours refer to the awards made within royal prerogative, operational honours, political honours and other honours awarded outside the New Year Honours and Birthday Honours.

Special honours are issued at random points throughout the year. Australia and the United Kingdom both issue special honours.

References

^ "No. 26008". The London Gazette. 1 January 1890. pp. 1–2.
^ "Court circular". The Times. No. 36652. London. 31 December 1901. p. 4.
^ "It's an Honour". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia). Australian Government. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
^ "No. 27374". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 November 1901. p. 7287.
^ "No. 27376". The London Gazette. 12 November 1901. p. 7291.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kennedy, Maev (1 August 2016). "From Lloyd George to the lavender list: the history of honours scandals". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
^ "Blair misses deadline for resignation honours". The Guardian. 22 June 2007.
^ Moss, Vincent (16 May 2010). "Gordon Brown to award peerages to John Prescott and Sue Nye - Mirror Online". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
^ "Harman 'blocks' Brown's resignation honours list". PoliticsHome. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
^ "Resignation Honours 2016". Retrieved 4 August 2016.

[1] "No. 26008". The London Gazette. 1 January 1890. pp. 1–2.

[2] "Court circular". The Times. No. 36652. London. 31 December 1901. p. 4.

[3] "It's an Honour". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia). Australian Government. Retrieved 23 January 2022.

[4] "No. 27374". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 November 1901. p. 7287.

[5] "No. 27376". The London Gazette. 12 November 1901. p. 7291.

[history_of_honours_scandals-6] Kennedy, Maev (1 August 2016). "From Lloyd George to the lavender list: the history of honours scandals". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2016.

[7] "Blair misses deadline for resignation honours". The Guardian. 22 June 2007.

[8] Moss, Vincent (16 May 2010). "Gordon Brown to award peerages to John Prescott and Sue Nye - Mirror Online". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 7 January 2016.

[9] "Harman 'blocks' Brown's resignation honours list". PoliticsHome. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.

[10] "Resignation Honours 2016". Retrieved 4 August 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

v t e British honours lists
New Year Honours	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902† 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940† 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 † Not issued because of Birthday Honours of the new monarch (1902) and World War II (1940)
Birthday Honours	1860 1861 1862 1863§ 1864§ 1865§ 1866 1867 1868§ 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876§ 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887† 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897† 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911† 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937† 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953† 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 § Not issued † Not issued because of Jubilee Honours (1887, 1897) and Coronation Honours (1911, 1937, 1953)
Coronation Honours	1821 1831 1838 1902 1911 1937 1953 2023† † Not issued
Jubilee Honours	1887 (Golden) 1897 (Diamond) 1935 (Silver) 1977 (Silver) 2002 (Golden) 2012 (Diamond) 2022 (Platinum)† † Not issued
Demise Honours	2002 (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret) 2021 (The Duke of Edinburgh) 2023 (Queen Elizabeth II)
Dissolution Honours	1874 1885 1892 1895 1900† 1906† 1910† 1918† 1922 1923† 1924 1929 1931 1935† 1945 1950 1951† 1955† 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (February) 1974 (October) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017† 2019 2024 † Not issued
Prime Minister's Resignation Honours	1895 1905 1916 1923 1924 1945 1951 1955† 1957† 1963 1964 1970 1976 1979† 1990 1997 2007† 2010† 2016 2019 2022 (Johnson) 2022 (Truss) 2024† † Not issued
Special Honours	1923 1952 1972 1973 1974 1981 1983 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1999 2001 2004 2006 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Additional Honours	1911 (Delhi Durbar) 1953 (Korea) 1969 (Investiture of The Prince of Wales) 1990 (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's 90th Birthday)
Honours by nation	Australia Canada Ceylon India New Zealand

v t e Australian honours lists
New Years Honours	1902† 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940† 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 † Not issued because of Birthday Honours of new king (1902) and WWII (1940)
Australia Day Honours	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Birthday Honours	1901† 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911† 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937† 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953† 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 † No Australians listed in this honours list (1901) and because of Coronation Honours (1911, 1937, 1953)
Bravery Honours	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90
Special Honours lists	2003 2007–2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Royal Visit Honours	2000 2011
Coronation Honours	1902 1911 1937 1953 2023† † Not issued
Related pages	Order of Australia List of Knights and Dames of the Order of Australia List of Companions of the Order of Australia Australian honours order of wearing
Governor General of Australia, Honours Lists

v t e Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada
Awards of valour	Victoria Cross Cross of Valour
National orders	Order of Canada Order of Military Merit Order of Merit of the Police Forces
Dynastic orders	Order of Merit Royal Victorian Order Order of St John
Provincial orders	Alberta Order of Excellence Order of British Columbia Order of Manitoba Order of New Brunswick Order of Newfoundland and Labrador Order of Nova Scotia Order of Ontario Order of Prince Edward Island National Order of Quebec Saskatchewan Order of Merit
Territorial orders	Order of the Northwest Territories Order of Nunavut Order of Yukon
Other decorations and medals	Royal Victorian Chain Decorations War and operational service medals Special service medals United Nations medals NATO medals International mission medals Commemorative medals Long service medals Exemplary service medals Special medals Order of Polaris
Canadian honours lists	1946 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024