Editing Order of the Garter (section)

==Composition==
{{See also|List of current knights and ladies of the Garter}}
[[File:Knights Companion of the Garter.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Knights Companion processing to [[St George's Chapel, Windsor|St George's Chapel]] for the Garter Service]]

===Members===
Membership in the Order is strictly limited and includes the Monarch, the [[Prince of Wales]], not more than 24 Companion members, and various [[wikt:supernumerary|supernumerary]] members. The monarch alone decides who is appointed.<ref name="PN">{{Cite web |last=Gay |first=Oonagh |date=20 March 2006 |url=http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-02832.pdf |title=Honours Standard Note: SN/PC/2832 |publisher=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom Parliament]] |access-date=7 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016235112/http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-02832.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2006}}</ref> The monarch is known as the ''Sovereign of the Garter'', and the Prince of Wales is known as a ''Royal Knight Companion of the Garter''.<ref name="SGC2">{{cite web |url=http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/about-st-georges/royal-connection/orders-of-chivalry.html |title=College of St George – Windsor Castle – Orders of Chivalry |publisher=College of St George – Windsor Castle |access-date=4 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219220802/http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/about-st-georges/royal-connection/orders-of-chivalry.html |archive-date=19 February 2010 }}</ref>

Male members of the Order are titled "Knights Companion" and female members are called "Ladies Companion". Formerly, the sovereign filled vacancies upon the nomination of the members. Each member would nominate nine candidates, of whom three had to have the rank of [[earl]] or higher, three the rank of [[baron]] or higher, and three the rank of [[knight]] or higher. The sovereign would choose as many nominees as were necessary to fill any vacancies in the order. They were not obliged to choose those who received the most nominations. Candidates were last nominated in 1860, and appointments have since been made by the sovereign acting alone, with no prior nominations. The statutes prescribing the former procedure were not amended, however, until 1953.<ref>{{harvnb|Begent|Chesshyre|1999|p=198}}</ref>

From the 18th century, the sovereign made their choices on the advice of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|government]]. In 1946, with the agreement of [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Clement Attlee]] and [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Opposition Leader]] [[Winston Churchill]], membership of Great Britain's highest ranking orders of chivalry (the Order of the Garter, the [[Order of the Thistle]] and the dormant [[Order of St Patrick]]) became a personal gift of the Sovereign once again.<ref name="RH2"/> Thus, the sovereign personally selects Knights and Ladies Companion of the Garter, without political influence.<ref name="SC">{{Cite web |date=13 July 2004 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmpubadm/212/21204.htm |title=Select Committee on Public Administration Fifth Report |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=8 November 2006 |archive-date=23 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123161341/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmpubadm/212/21204.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Appointments are typically announced on [[Saint George's Day]] (23 April).<ref name="RH2"/>

===Supernumerary members===
[[File:Emperor Taisho the Order of the Garter.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Emperor [[Taishō]], after the 1902 [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]], in his Garter robes]]
The Order includes [[wikt:supernumerary|supernumerary]] members, whose number do not count towards the limit of 24 companions. Several supernumerary members, known as "Royal Knights and Ladies of the Garter", belong to the [[British Royal Family|royal family]]. These titles were introduced in 1786 by King [[George III]] so that his many sons would not curtail the number of non-royal companions. He created the statute of supernumerary members in 1805 so that any descendant of King [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] could be installed as such a member. In 1831, this statute was extended again to include all descendants of King [[George I of Great Britain|George I]].<ref name="ne" />

With the installation of Emperor [[Alexander I of Russia]] in 1813, supernumerary membership was extended to foreign monarchs, who are known as "Stranger Knights and Ladies of the Garter".<ref name="RH4">{{Cite web |date=June 2004 |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page3210.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222251/http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page3210.asp |archive-date=27 September 2007 |title=Royal Insight: June 2004: Focus: The Order of the Garter |publisher=The Royal Household}}</ref> Each such installation originally required the enactment of a statute; however, a 1954 statute authorises the regular admission of Stranger Knights or Ladies without further special enactments.<ref name="RH4"/>

===Degradation of members===<!-- Isn't more a "revocation" than a "degradation"? -->
The sovereign may "[[Degradation (knighthood)|degrade]]" members who have taken up arms against the Crown. From the late 15th century, there was a formal ceremony of degradation, in which [[Garter King of Arms]], accompanied by the rest of the [[Herald]]s, processed to St George's Chapel. While the Garter King read aloud the Instrument of Degradation, a Herald climbed up a ladder and removed the former Knight's [[banner]], [[Crest (heraldry)|crest]], [[Helmet (heraldry)|helm]], and [[sword]], throwing them down into the [[Choir (architecture)|quire]]. Then the rest of the Heralds kicked them down the length of the chapel, out of the doors, and into the castle ditch. The last such formal degradation was that of [[James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde]], in 1716.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter J Begent|title=The Most Noble Order of the Garter, its History and Ceremonial}}</ref>

During the First World War, two Royal Knights and six Stranger Knights, all monarchs or princes of enemy nations and including Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]] of Germany, and Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria]], were struck off the roll of the order, their appointments being annulled in 1915.<ref name="RH4" /> The banner of King [[Victor Emmanuel III]] was removed from the chapel after [[Fascist Italy|Italy]] entered World War II against the United Kingdom and its allies in 1940.<ref>{{cite book|author=David Kemp|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8jYdEyVnQn4C&dq=Victor+Emmanuel+III+of+Italy+Order+of+the+Garter&pg=PA141|title=The Pleasures and Treasures of Britain: A Discerning Traveller's Companion|date= 1992|page=141|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=9781770700703|access-date=15 March 2023|archive-date=8 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408032005/https://books.google.com/books?id=8jYdEyVnQn4C&dq=Victor+Emmanuel+III+of+Italy+Order+of+the+Garter&pg=PA141|url-status=live}}</ref> The banner of Emperor [[Hirohito]] was removed from St George's Chapel when [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] entered World War II in 1941, but that banner and his knighthood were restored by [[Elizabeth II]] in 1971, when Hirohito made a [[state visit]] to the United Kingdom. The Emperor was particularly pleased by the restoration to the Garter.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kingston|first=Jeff|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2005/03/13/books/book-reviews/the-tokyo-envoys-englishmen-in-japan/#.WPqHpVLMyRs|title=The Tokyo envoys: Englishmen in Japan|work=The Japan Times|location=Tokyo|date=13 March 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604025115/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2005/03/13/books/book-reviews/the-tokyo-envoys-englishmen-in-japan/ |archive-date=4 June 2016 }}</ref>

===Officers===
[[File:Officers of the Order of the Garter.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Officers of the Order of the Garter (left to right): Secretary (barely visible), Black Rod, Garter Principal King of Arms, Register, Prelate, Chancellor]]
The Order has six officers: the [[Prelate]], the [[Chancellor of the Order of the Garter|Chancellor]], the Register, the [[Garter Principal King of Arms]], the [[Black Rod|Usher]], and the Secretary.<ref name="Knight">{{Cite book |last=Knight |first=Charles |year=1811 |title=Guide to Windsor |chapter=9}}</ref> The offices of Prelate, Register, and Usher were created on the order's establishment; those of Garter Principal King of Arms and Chancellor, in the 15th century; and that of Secretary, in the 20th century.<ref name="COA">{{cite web|url=http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/About/06.htm |title=The origin and history of the various heraldic offices |publisher=The College of Arms |access-date=16 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729132925/http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/About/06.htm |archive-date=29 July 2010 }}</ref>

[[William of Edington]], [[Bishop of Winchester]], was the first Prelate of the Order, and that office has since been held by his successors at Winchester, traditionally a senior bishopric of the [[Church of England]].<ref>{{harvnb|Begent|Chesshyre|1999|p=105}}</ref>

The office of Chancellor is now held by one of the companions of the order. For most of its existence, the [[Bishop of Salisbury]] has held the office, although [[laymen]] held it from 1553 to 1671. In 1837, after boundary changes made [[Windsor Castle]] fall in the [[diocese of Oxford]], the Chancellorship was transferred to the [[Bishop of Oxford]]. A century later, the Bishop of Salisbury challenged this transfer, on the grounds that the Chancellorship had been attached to his office regardless of the [[diocese]] in which the chapel of the order lay; and that, in any event, [[St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle|St George's Chapel]], as a [[Royal Peculiar]], was not under diocesan jurisdiction. The office of Chancellor was removed from the Bishop of Oxford (the outgoing bishop, [[Thomas Strong (bishop)|Thomas Strong]], had been outspoken in the [[Edward VIII abdication crisis]]), and so it was withheld from his successor, [[Kenneth Kirk]], and has since been held by one of the Knights and Ladies Companion.<ref>{{harvnb|Begent|Chesshyre|1999|pp=109–112}}</ref>

The office of Register has been held by the [[Dean of Windsor]] since 1558.<ref>{{harvnb|Begent|Chesshyre|1999|p=116}}</ref> The Garter Principal King of Arms is ''[[ex officio]]'' the senior officer of the [[College of Arms]] (the [[heraldic authority]] of England), and is usually appointed from among the other [[officer of arms|officers of arms]] at the College.<ref name="begent-chesshyre">{{harvnb|Begent|Chesshyre|1999|p=122}}</ref> As the title suggests, Garter Principal King of Arms has specific duties as the Order's officer of arms, attending to the companions' [[Coat of arms|coats of arms]] and [[Banner of arms|banners of arms]], which are exhibited in the chapel. The Secretary, who acts as deputy to Garter in the ceremonial aspects of the Order, has since 1952 typically also been selected from the other officers of the College of Arms.<ref>{{harvnb|Begent|Chesshyre|1999|p=143}}</ref> The office of Usher is held by the [[Black Rod|Usher of the Black Rod]], who is also the [[Serjeant-at-Arms]] of the [[House of Lords]].<ref>{{harvnb|Begent|Chesshyre|1999|p=132}}</ref>

*'''Prelate''': [[Philip Mounstephen]], [[Bishop of Winchester]] (''ex officio'', 2023)
*'''Chancellor''': [[Eliza Manningham-Buller]], Baroness Manningham-Buller {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|LG|DCB}} (2024)
*'''Register''':<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://issuu.com/exposeddesign/docs/companionmagazine-order-of-the-gart |title=The Register of the Order of the Garter |magazine=The Companion – magazine for the College of St George |issue=21 |page=12 |publisher=The Dean and Canons of Windsor |publication-date=13 June 2015 |via=issuu.com |accessdate=23 April 2021}}</ref> Dr [[Christopher Cocksworth]], Dean of Windsor (''ex officio'', 2023)
*'''King of Arms''': [[David White (officer of arms)|David White]] {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OStJ}}, Garter Principal King of Arms (''ex officio'', 2021)
*'''Secretary''': Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Segrave (2024)
*'''Usher''': [[Sarah Clarke (Black Rod)|Sarah Clarke]] {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|CVO|OBE}}, Lady Usher of the Black Rod (''ex officio'', 2018)