Originally posted by Ushgarakbut i cant get it? even if a made a big possitive impact on the UK, right?
As in define it is "service to the State... err, but not if the person who performed that service did it by having lots of money..."No no no. The honours system are very simple indeed- benefit the UK and you get them. That CAN be by charity work or other such public service, but it can also be just by making the UK a better place, in any way.
Really? We only just had a major one.
Originally posted by Ushgarakwhat about Sir Rudy Juliani? 😄
Well, it answers your question! He's not Sir Bill gates at all! So the clear rule is, you have to be a Commonwealth member.And even if it wasn't, I believe US citizens are de-barred by law (US law, not UK) from holding such offices- not from the UK especially, but from anywhere else.
I looked that up- because I certainly heard it before- and it seems to be a disputed call.
The Constitution certainly forbids anyone in the American political arena to have foreign titles, and the American Government cannot bestow titles itself.
Whether private citizens can, literally, receive any seems to be under debate. But
a. certainly protocol is that they don't
and
b. When it comes to Knighthoods, we don't give the title to foreigners anyway, so it doesn't matter.
Right, lets see if I can make this clearer... from the beginning... Honours, including Knighthoods and Honorary Knighthoods, are given by the British Government to anyone who has benefitted Britain in any conspicuous way.... a Parliamentary committee draws up a shortlist, which is then approved (or not!) by the Prime Minister, and sent for the Royal Assent... when this has been done, the Honours are awarded... in the case of Knighthoods, any British Citizen, or certain Commonwealth Citizens, receive Full Knighthoods, entitling the bearer to use the title ( hence "entitle"😉 Sir, or in the case of a female recipient, Dame.... any foreign national, including some Commonwealth citizens, receive Honorary Knighthoods, which convey no special precedence under British law (although etiquette leads to a certain precedence being allowed...) and does not entitle the bearer to use any title whatsoever... Knighthoods are not hereditary and are ranked by order.... so a Knight of the Garter would rank above any other Knight, and one of the Order of St Michael and St George would rank above one of the Bath or of the Order of the British Empire.... within each order are specific ranks, starting with Grand Commander at the top, followed by Knight Commander, and at the bottom, Commander... beneath these are the Member, and the holder of the Order... these last two do not usually class as Knighthoods (examples being OBE and MBE...) As an aside, the Civil Service usually gets the order of St Michael and St George.... among themselves they assert that the initials conveyed upon them stand for (CMG) Call me God.... (KCMG) Kindly call me God... and (GCMG) God calls me God......