State visits and The Gazette: Part 5 - Foreign honours
Following the state visit of the American president earlier this year, in a ten-part series historian and honours expert Russell Malloch looks at the recent history of state visits in the UK. In this article, he explores the conferring of foreign honours to the sovereign, as well as members of the royal family and British officials.
Chapters
The award of British honours during a state visit to the United Kingdom, whether to the visiting monarch or president, or members of their suite and embassy, was usually matched by the award of foreign honours to the sovereign, and/or members of the royal family and the British officials who delivered the state visit programme. The foreign insignia was often presented at an early stage, to allow the badges and stars to be worn at the state banquet on the first evening.
The Gazette does not normally record any aspect of the award of foreign honours in connection with state visits, although the Court Circular has noticed a few of the high distinctions that were given to the sovereign, but not to any members of the home team.
The Sovereign
The exchange usually resulted in the sovereign being granted a high honour by the visiting head of state, unless they had already received such a distinction, as happened during the first visit of Elizabeth II’s reign, when she entertained King Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, having received the insignia of the senior Swedish order, the Order of the Seraphim, just a few days after her coronation in 1953. The Queen therefore received no new insignia from her Swedish guest in 1954.
The second state visit of the Queen’s reign took place in October 1954, and illustrated the more usual situation, and the Court Circular explained that when Emperor Haile Selassie and his son the Duke of Harar reached Buckingham Palace:
“The Queen conferred the Most Noble Order of the Garter upon the Emperor of Ethiopia and invested the Duke of Harar with the insignia of a knight grand cross of the Royal Victorian Order. His Imperial Majesty invested the Queen with the chain of the Order of the Seal of Solomon and the Duke of Edinburgh with the chain of the Order of the Queen of Sheba.”
Some, but not all, of the honours that were conferred on the Queen during inward state visits were noticed in the Court Circular. There were, for example, reports of her receiving the insignia of:
- the Order of Merit from Theodor Heuss of Germany in 1958
- the Order of the Royal House of Chakri from King Bhumibol of Thailand in 1960
- the Grand Band Order of the Star of Africa from William Tubman of Liberia in 1962
These early awards show that it was not always practical for exchanges to take place during the later state visits of the Queen’s long reign, as happened with the presidents of Germany who came after Theodor Heuss, as she already had the insignia of the republic’s highest honour, the special grand cross of the Order of Merit.
On a few occasions, an addition was made to an existing honour, as in 1975, when the Court Circular noticed that the Queen received the chain of the Order of the Seraphim from King Carl Gustaf of Sweden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, more than 20 years after she received the ordinary Seraphim insignia from his grandfather.
Home personnel
The award of foreign honours to British personnel followed a well-established formula, with the grand cross or the equivalent first class grade being allocated to the most senior officials in the royal household, such as the lord chamberlain, who wore the insignia as he walked before the sovereign and the head of state when they made their entrance at the state banquet at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
Elizabeth II’s chamberlains accumulated a series of grand crosses in this way, with one of the most highly decorated being the Earl of Airlie, who supervised more than 25 state visits between 1985 and 1997. His large collection of foreign insignia included the first classes of the Order of Merit from Richard von Weizsacker of Germany in 1986, the Order of Infante Dom Henrique from Mario Soares of Portugal in 1993, and the Order of the Southern Cross from Fernando Cardoso of Brazil in 1997.
Foreign honours were also awarded to the more junior personnel who were involved in arranging the state visit, and providing transport and other facilities. One recipient of such an honour was the chauffeur Edward Harrison (Gazette issue 47102), who earned nine state visit awards, starting with the Homayoun Medal from the Shah of Iran in 1959 and the Gold Medal of Honour from William Tubman of Liberia in 1962, and ending with the Gold Medal of Honour for Foreign Affairs from Valery Giscard d’Estaing of France, and the Gold Medal of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique from Antonio Eanes of Portugal in the 1970s.
The awards were sent to some recipients in advance of the visit, as with the badge of the Jordanian Order of Al Istiqlal for chauffeur Harrison, which was accompanied by a letter of 14 July 1966, from the Queen’s assistant private secretary. Harrison was advised that the insignia “should not be worn before the State Banquet on Tuesday, 19th July”, and indicated that an acknowledgement should be made to the Jordanian ambassador in London on the following lines:
“I am writing to ask Your Excellency to be good enough to convey to the King of Jordan my sincere thanks for the honour which His Majesty has conferred upon me by awarding me a decoration in the Order of Al Istiqlal on the occasion of the state visit to London of His Majesty and Her Royal Highness Princess Muna al Hussein.”
Each award was usually accompanied by a letter from one of the Queen’s secretaries, which granted the recipient restricted permission to wear the insignia or medal, and explained that it was only to be worn on certain occasions, including:
- in the presence of the sovereign, reigning prince, or head of state to which the medal belongs
- in the presence of any member of the royal family of the country concerned
- at any official or semi-official ceremony held exclusively in connection with that country, such as a memorial service, unveiling a monument or opening an institution, and
- on all official occasions whilst in that country
Such provisions about wearing decorations had been reported in The Gazette since 1914, when a Foreign Office notice explained that private or restricted permission to wear the insignia of an order would generally be given for a decoration conferred on British ambassadors or ministers abroad when the sovereign paid a state visit to the country to which they were accredited (Gazette issue 28833).
Similar Foreign Service regulations were gazetted during Eliabeth II’s reign, as with the issue in 1957 (Gazette issue 41256) which said that a restricted form of permission to accept and wear a foreign award:
“may be granted in the case of decorations conferred in recognition of personal attention to a foreign sovereign or head of state, or a member of a foreign royal family, on the occasion of state or official visits by such personages, in the case of decorations conferred on members of Her Majesty’s missions abroad when the Queen pays a state visit to a foreign country”.
Honours
There are occasional references in the Court Circular to ceremonies connected with the award of honours that were organised during a state visit.
The most elaborate events of this kind were laid on for the Order of the Garter, with The Gazette reporting the investitures of Kings Haakon of Norway (Gazette issue 27965), and Manuel of Portugal (Gazette issue 28309), which were held at Windsor Castle in 1906 and 1909, and were followed by state banquets in St George’s Hall.
Much later, there were unique occasions for the Orders of the Garter and the Thistle during state visits, when King Frederick of Denmark was installed as one of the knights in St George’s Chapel at Windsor in 1951, and King Olav of Norway was installed as one of the brethren in the Thistle Chapel in Edinburgh in 1962.
No state visit recipient of the grand cross of the Bath was ever installed in the chapel of that order, but on one occasion the visitor was able to witness the ceremonial in Westminster Abbey. This happened in 1972, when the German president, Gustaf Heinemann, attended the service during which the GCBs who were installed included the war-time commander and viceroy of India, Admiral of the Fleet the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and General Sir Richard Gale, who was decorated for services in Normandy and north-west Europe during the war against Nazi Germany.
The Court Circular rarely reported any individuals other than the monarch or president being presented with insignia during the course of an inward state visit. One example arose in 2008 at the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, where Nicolas Sarkozy gave the badge of a member the French Legion of Honour to the sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur (Gazette issue 57557), who held the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe. A second report appeared in the Circular in 2010, when the Queen conferred the insignia of an honorary dame commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) on the wife of the Emir of Qatar, at the start of their state visit to Windsor Castle.
The Qatari DBE was the exception to the rule that no honours were to be conferred on the wife or other relative who accompanied the head of state. This contrasted with the practice in many European nations, where the visiting monarch or president received the highest state honour, and their spouse was given a lesser award. In Denmark, for example, a foreign president might become a knight of the Order of the Elephant, while their wife received the grand cross of the Dannebrog, and in Spain the visitor/consort combination might involve the grand crosses of the Orders of Charles III and Isabel the Catholic.
The British policy of not honouring wives of heads of state was maintained, even although the Duke of Edinburgh routinely received an honour during state visits (unless he already held a relevant award). For a time, the Court Circular recorded the insignia that the Queen’s consort accumulated, as in the 1950s when he received the chain of the Ethiopian Order of the Queen of Sheba from Emperor Haile Selassie, the Grand Order of Faisal I from King Faisal of Iraq, and the Order of Merit from Theodor Heuss of Germany.
Other gifts
The wives, relatives and other visitors who accompanied monarchs and presidents were not excluded from the gift giving process, which ran in parallel with the honours regime, as the state visits were usually marked by the giving and receiving of other presents, which might include signed photographs, and items such as clocks, cigarette cases, cufflinks and brooches that displayed royal and/or presidential emblems.
The range of gifts can be seen from data the American State Department publishes, which shows the sort of provision that was made for Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump, for whom the grand cross of the Bath was deemed to be inappropriate.
In 2003 the Queen gave George Bush a silver ruler, bearing the presidential seal and royal cypher on the front, with the names of 43 presidents on the back, which was shown by the State Department with an estimated value of $450 for reporting purposes. Although no information is published by the British government, some comparison may be made between the cost of President Bush’s gift and the cost of the insignia of the orders of knighthood, as the economic secretary to the Treasury told parliament in 1995 that the outlay was £1,730 for a civil GCB; £3,230 for a GCMG, and £1,360 for a GCVO.
On the same occasion, Mrs Bush was given a Linley wooden jewellery box, decorated with the royal cypher ($520), while the Bush family received a copy of Royal Treasurers: A Golden Jubilee Celebration, edited by Jane Roberts, in a cyphered red leather box ($1,200).
Barak Obama’s present in 2011 was A selection of papers from the Royal Arches 1834-1897 in a leather box ($2,800), while his wife was given a brooch with gold leaves and coral flowers by Bentley and Skinner, and a box of chocolates. In return, the President’s gifts included a set of white metal Liverpool driving bits decorated with the emblem of the Seal of the President of the United States of America, which was presented to Prince Philip (pictured).
Several White House staff members received a signed photograph of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, including secretary of state Hilary Clinton, who was also given a silver trinket box with the royal insignia on the lid ($4,020).
For his 2019 visit, Donald Trump received a specially commissioned pen set, and an abridged first edition of The Second World War by Winston Churchill ($1,050), and his wife was presented with a silver jewellery box ($390). Members of their party, including their son-in-law Jared Kushner, were given framed and signed photographs.
The Queen received a wide range of gifts in return, with President Trump’s 2019 state visit bringing her a leather chest featuring the seal of the president of the United States, a wooden jewellery box with an engraving relating to the White House on the top, and a Tiffany and Company red poppy brooch, as a “homage to the sacrifices of the British armed forces” and the continued partnership between the two countries.
Succession to the Crown: From Charles II to Charles III
Succession to the Crown is essential reading for anyone with a keen interest in the British royal family and provides an excellent and trusted source of information for historians, researchers and academics alike. The book takes you on a journey exploring the coronations, honours and emblems of the British monarchy, from the demise of King Charles II in 1685, through to the accession of King Charles III, as recorded in The London Gazette.
Historian Russell Malloch tells the story of the Crown through trusted, factual information found in the UK's official public record. Learn about the traditions and ceremony engrained in successions right up to the demise of Queen Elizabeth II and the resulting proclamation and accession of King Charles III.
Available to order now from the TSO Shop.
About the author
Russell Malloch is a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society and an authority on British honours. He authored Succession to the Crown: From Charles II to Charles III, which explores the coronations, honours and emblems of the British monarchy.
See also
Demise of the Crown: #1: An introduction
Find out more
Succession to the Crown: - From Charles II to Charles III (TSO shop)
Images
- Photograph of Queen Elizabeth II arriving for a State Banquet held to welcome her arrival to Ethiopia. She wears a tiara and satin dress with the Order of Solomon collar and badge. Emperor Selassie (1905-75) on Queen's left, also wearing order of Soloman collar and badge. (Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2026)
- Order of Infante Dom Henrique of Portugal: awarded to the Earl of Airlie in 1993. (Russell Malloch)
- Set of white metal Liverpool driving bits decorated with the emblem of the Seal of the President of the United States of America presented to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace by President Barack Obama during a State Visit. (Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2026)
- The Gazette
Publication date
3 February 2026
Any opinion expressed in this article is that of the author and the author alone, and does not necessarily represent that of The Gazette.