Editing Order of the Garter (section)

===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"/>