Prince of Wales Confirmed to Succeed Her Majesty as Head of the Commonwealth.

Following a long hiatus it is with renewed vigour that I return to write this blog. 

Whilst somewhat short, my first article will discuss the recent confirmation by leaders of the Commonwealth of Nations, that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales will succeed Her Majesty as the Head of the Commonwealth. 

In response, His Royal Highness issued a statement saying, "I am deeply touched and honoured by the decision of Commonwealth Heads of State and Government that I should succeed The Queen, in due course, as Head of the Commonwealth," "Meanwhile, I will continue to support Her Majesty in every possible way, in the service of our unique family of nations."

This announcement came on the back of a rare public appeal by Her Majesty for the Prince of Wales to be her successor, when Her Majesty said;

"It is my sincere wish that the Commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations and will decide that one day the Prince of Wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949." 

This announcement had followed some speculation in the press, that His Royal Highness was not certain to succeed Her Majesty and that the position could be one of election, as a means to build upon the Commonwealths democratic credentials.

The BBC was reporting that a source had told them that “There are various formulas being played with,” and questioning whether “Should it always be the heir to the throne or Prince Charles himself? Is it the person or the position?” 

Fortunately for now, despite the fact that many of the realms are being led by republicans, common sense has prevailed. It is now expected that owing to Her Majesties age and His Royal Highnesses succession as Head of the Commonwealth confirmed, the Prince of Wales will now begin taking on a greater workload when it comes to Commonwealth affairs.

A Fogey's Lament

It has been a while since this Young Fogey has had the time to be able to sit down and flesh out a few lines for this blog, but fortunately I now have the opportunity to do so.

It is with deep regret that, Australia's current Prime Minister, and former head of the Australian Republican Movement, Malcolm Turnbull, announced on 2 November 2015, that Her Majesty had approved his request to amend the letters patent of the Order of Australia. This amendment will see the removal of Knights and Dames, once more from the Order of Australia. This will occur after they had been reintroduced on the advice of his predecessor the monarchist Tony Abbott. These amendments to the Order will subsequently be gazetted on 22 December 2015.

The premise for such action, was on the basis that cabinet (many of whom now reflect the republican views of their leader, no doubt in the hope of further promotion) considered that the use of the prefix title of Sir or Dame was no longer appropriate in todays modern Australia. The term anachronistic was also used. However such beliefs regarding prefix titles strangely do not seem to extend to their use of the title "Honourable" which members of the Federal Executive Council are entitled to be referred to as.

Since we are now in a position whereby honours that confer a prefix title are for the time no longer part of the Australian Honours System (outside the Royal Prerogative, that is today rarely if ever exercised). This young fogey would seek to draw attention towards another little used honour, that could, and should, once more become available to Australian citizens.

The Order of the Companions of Honour was instituted in June 1917 at the same time as the Order of the British Empire and is often referred to as, the junior Order of Merit. Which is an Order within the Royal Prerogative, Australians the Honourable John Howard OM, AC, SSI and Lord May of Oxford OM, AC, FRS are members of this Order. The Order of the Companions of Honour, bestows no title upon the recipient. Though they may use the post-nominal letters CH. The order which had originally consisted of just fifty members, would be later enlarged to the present number of 65 in total, with 45 members from the UK, seven from Australia, four from New Zealand and seven from other Commonwealth nations.

As a Commonwealth Realm, The Prime Minister of Australia has the authority to advise Her Majesty regarding appointments in relation to the Australian quota. Of which there are currently six positions vacant. The Rt Honourable Doug Anthony AC, CH, PC the former Deputy prime Minister being the only living Australian recipient.

By once again making nominations to such a prestigious Commonwealth honour. Australia would have the ability to recognise outstanding achievement of its artists, writers, musicians, scientists and politicians at a Commonwealth level. The Commonwealth being a body, that regardless of whether one be a republican or monarchist, is considered an important institution for the nation to remained involved with. By exercising Australia's right to make nominations for membership of the Order, we as a nation would have the opportunity to avoid the politically sensitive dramas,b that have come to be associated with the topic of Knights and Dames. Now we can only wait and see who will have the good sense, to once again make a nomination for membership.

A Knighthood for His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh

Owing to study and work commitments the Young Fogey Down Under has had little time to sit down and punch out a few lines to those who are kind enough to read my articles. But invigorated by a number of new followers, plus the reactions of the media to todays announcement of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh being appointed a Knight within the Order of Australia within the 2015 Australia Day Honours List I have decided the time was right.

His Royal Highness was initially appointed to the Military Division of the Order of Australia back in 1988 by the Labor Hawke Government. Over the years, he has also had his service recognised not only by all those major Realms such as Canada and New Zealand who have since introduced their own honours systems, since departing from the so called "Imperial System". But also from dozens of other nations both Monarchy and Republic alike. This includes around twenty one Orders that bestow the grade of Knighthood or its equivalent.

Much of the commentary today, unfortunately has been far from informed. Including such misleading statements, that HRH had received the nations highest honour. When in fact the AK sits at the position of sixth within the Order of Precedence (The Victoria Cross of course being the highest), and ignoring the fact that the Order of Australia has a long history of being bestowed upon those who do not reside within our nations shores. Some recipients such as Nelson Mandela or General David Petraeus have had far more tentative links to Australia, than His Royal Highness. Who, not only serves as patron to numerous Australian charities, but also heads the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme, serves as Colonel in Chief to the Royal Australian Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and Australian Army Cadets as well as holding five star rank across all three services of the Australian Defence Force. But, and what is perhaps even more poignant served as consort to our Queen for what what is almost sixty three years.

Despite this service, today the Australian political class, encouraged by an enabling media, lined up to take a baseball bat, or perhaps more appropriately a cricket bat to the announcement to of His Royal Highnesses Award. In doing so, not only have they revealed themselves as totally ungracious human beings, but shown a flaw in the Australian character. When former Prime Minister John Howard was appointed to the Order of Merit or the Presidential Medal of Freedom did we hear the citizens of the United Kingdom or America respectively going into uproar. Likewise when Labor Politicians have received Knighthoods from Thailand or Italy did those countries politicians and media display such undignified behaviour? No they did not, and so here we come to realise that todays reaction has been one, that has done not only us as a nation little credit. But in doing so, we have ignored all those who today should have been celebrated for their service, they instead have been overshadowed by a media and political storm.

Yet The Young Fogey Down Under, does not shy away from this fact, that it's possible things could have been handled differently. With such a small annual quota, the Prime Minister in the opinion of this humble blogger, could have considered appointing one other Australian resident as either a Knight or Dame within the Order. And making His Royal Highness as an Extra Royal Knight.  Preferably waiting until the Queens Birthday Honours List (though due to concerns with age and health of the Duke I acknowledge this may have been a factor).

In ending this blog I wish you all a Happy Australia Day for 2015, and congratulate both our Knights of the Order of Australia and all those who today were amongst the names on this Australia Day Honours List. And of course to a friend who discovered his unit has been granted the Meritorious Unit Citation for service in the Middle East.

A Case For Knighthoods in Australia

 

 

When Prime Minister Abbott called a press conference last week, there was little hint to what would be announced, was it new information in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines MH370, speculation amongst the Canberra Press Gallery was rife.

The Prime Minister approached the podium and soon all was apparent, Knights and Dames within the Order of Australia had returned, the first appointments being outgoing Governor General Quentin Bryce AC, CVO and incoming Governor General Peter Cosgrove AC, MC. Instantly if one believed those from the opposition benches, the press and some commentators, 21^st century Australia had somehow been transported to a feudal era where recipients of these so called Imperial Honours would patrol their outback estates upon a trusty steed, with his Lady and the local peasantry all forced to pay homage, or as other would have it the Prime Minister was awaiting to bestow it upon mining magnates or former politicians, there were even suggestions from some that he secretly coveted the honour himself. Sadly even those who were prepared to at least discuss the matter in more civil tones were often speaking from a position of ignorance, spreading misinformation to an already ill-informed public.

What the Prime Minister had announced was that the Grade of Knight and Dame within the Order of Australia would be reintroduced, to be bestowed upon those Australians primarily who had not sort public office. There could be no question of following the New Zealand example of also applying this to Companions of the Order of Australia, as unlike New Zealand whose Companions had previously been Knight/Dame Companions, before the Labour Governments reforms of the Honour System under Prime Minister Helen Clarke, this had never been the case in Australia. We would revert to the pre 1986 position of the Order of Australia consisting of five grades the AK, AC, AO, AM and OAM.

Many of the critics either deliberately or through ignorance suggested that this was an Imperial Honour, which if the case would mean appointments would be in The Order of the British Empire, or the Order of St Michael and St George for example. Be assured this is an Australian Honour within the order of Australia. In fact honours such as Knighthoods despite what some may lead us to think, are not confined purely Britain at all. Many countries both Monarchies and Republics alike such as Thailand, Italy and France bestow such an honour (Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove holds both a French and Papal Knighthood) and whilst Mr Shorten has pointed out his party opposes such honours and titles, it would appear that this does not extend to accepting foreign honours, being no better illustrated than the acceptance by Whitlam, Hawke and Keating all former Labor Prime Ministers of foreign Knighthoods and in the case of every Labor member who has ever been admitted to the Federal Executive Council they accept the title of The Honourable which they hold for life. All the while they hypocritically oppose the Queen of Australia offering an internationally recognisable honour to Australians, and prevent our citizens deciding for themselves whether they will accept or decline such an offer.

This is truly the challenge for the Australian Labor Party in a Liberal Democracy. Surely it is up to the recipient to decide for themselves whether they feel comfortable accepting such an honour, rather than having the values of Mr Shorten or the ALP Caucus thrust upon them. For Monarchists we must now hope that any new appointments to the grade of Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia are of the highest calibre, so that Knighthoods remain an institution within our Honours System, and all Australians may have confidence in that system, and stand up and reject the ridiculous arguments of those who seek to destroy our traditions.        

Bombing of Darwin 19th Feb 1942

Today the 19th of February 2012 at 10.00am marks the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia by the Japanese military. The attack was planned to prevent any response from Australia for their invasion of Timor. A total of 242 aircraft flying from aircraft carriers and bases in the Netherland East Indies caused significant damage during the two wave attack that day dropping 114620kgs of ordinance the first lasting 40 minutes the second some 25 minutes. The casualty list that day has often been disputed with official figures stating 243 killed and 3-400 wounded however unofficial numbers for the dead have been as high as 1000 though most believe its roughly double the official toll. 20 military aircraft were destroyed and 8 ships at anchor were lost and the RAAF airfields destroyed.

Today we remember those who lost their lives in the first ever attack on the Australian mainland and those who fought on in the defence of their homeland and opposing tyranny in the Pacific.

The Return of Pomp and Pageantry

Those of you who are regular readers of A Young Fogey Down Under will recall a recent post in regard to the slow destruction of many of the ceremonial traditions here in Australia well this week a counter blow has been struck by those who value their heritage and history. This in the form of the new speaker to the Australian Federal Parliament The Honourable Peter Slipper.

 Mr Speaker has decided that the Tradition of the speaker wearing ceremonial dress should be restored, this in the form of a QC gown and jacket, it has even been rumoured that he has flirted with the idea of donning the full-bottomed wig, which detractors have said cant be done as its on display at the Museum of Democracy obviously they have never heard they can be bought through Ede and Ravenscroft. The last speaker to do so was Sir William Snedden who retired as speaker on the 4th of Feb 1983. Since then there have been many variations of dress with speakers in later years wearing a simple academics gown to the last speaker the Honourable Harry Jenkins simply wearing a suit.

The move by the Speaker has not been without controversey with a section of the press covering the front pages of their tabloids with caricatures etc however this has not deterred Mr Slipper who has announced that once  a week he will lead the formal procession of Speaker with his Sergeant at Arms through areas viewable to the public. This has not occured in the new parliament building outside of the opening of parliament after every election(roughly every four years) the Speaker and the Sergeant at Arms currently enter the chamber through a side door from the speakers office. While the press have labelled the Speaker  an egotist those of us who seek to protect our traditions know that the speaker is simply reintroducing those  which have been abolished by the true egotists those custodians of the office of speaker who have trashed centuries of traditions by removing bit by bit the symbols and customs of that office.

So this Young Fogey would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the new speaker on his appointment and his decision to restore a little history and colour into our parliament. Lets hope it is only the beginning of things to come.

The 6th of February Accession Day

On this day sixty years ago HRH Princess Elizabeth became our Queen and whilst around the globe there will be much rejoicing for Her Majesties achievement of sixty years of unblemished faithful service one can not help but feel that Her Majesty views such a day with a heavy heart. As becoming Queen could only result from the the death of her much loved father and our King. A King who had the crown thrust upon him in unfortunate circumstances but set the standard of service which his daughter would follow. We the people of the Realms are truly fortunate for their dedicated service. In this jubilee year let us all partake in the celebrations which will take place throughout the Commonwealth of nations and celebrate the achievement of our Queen.
But on this day let us remember King George VI may he have eternal peace.

Our Loss of Tradition

In recent years a cultural war has been taking place in Australia often unnoticed to the general population, this war has been fought between traditionalists and that group who like to style themselves progressives. Now progressives unfortunately arn't always sure why they are opposing the traditions that have stood us in good sted often since the early years of white settlement of our continent usually presenting tired cliches about the modern world and the need for change,  But  being the ideologues that they are they believe that any change must be good  often even when the evidence blatantly points to the contrary or just simply would have no impact what so ever an excellent example of change for changes sake . Now traditionalists are always stereotyped by the progressives as the old fogey character longing for the certainty of yesterday frightened of the modern world. However the facts couldnt be further from the truth, traditionalists are neither stuck in the past nor frightened of the future they simply have the common sense to know that human beings throughout the world have always had traditions and rituals as the bedrock of their society, even whilst at the forefront of modern living. These traditions and rituals keep us in touch with where we came from, subtle reminders of the past whilst dealing with the issues of the day. Traditions also sometimes have a more purposeful objective lending dignity to events that otherwise would not in themselves seem of importance or as an example in  our courts  the robes and wigs whilst an anachronism to some, actually serve to give those wearing them a sense of authority(so often labelled by progressives as intimidation) thus assisting them to perform their duties and with the respect their office deserves.
What is certain is that the culture war will continue and progressives will continue to seek to minimalise or destroy what traditions and rituals we have here in a country where the phrase "we dont have many traditions" is all to often uttered. And it is up to us the traditionalists to be vigilant.

30th of January the execution of King Charles the Martyr

On this day in 1649 parliamentary forces executed their rightful King Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland. May his soul have eternal peace.

Great, good, and just! could I but rate
My griefs to thy too rigid fate,
I'd weep the world to such a strain,
As it would deluge once again:
But since thy loud-tongued blood demands supplies,
More from Briareus' hands than Argus' eyes,
I'll sing thy obsequies with trumpet sounds,
And write thy epitaph with blood and wounds.

Marquis of Montrose(1612-1650)

Sir Douglas Ralph "Doug" Nicholls KCVO, OBE

Over the past few days we have seen many images, and heard many debates rage over fallout of the Australia Day protests in Canberra and the subsequent flag burning. However we must not forget that those who commit such acts are a minority and that we must not allow them to overshadow the deeds of better men and women. So I wish to draw young fogey followers attention s to the life of Sir Douglas Nicholls KCVO, OBE a former Governor of the State of South Australia. Born in Cummeragunja on the 9th of December 1906 an area renowned for producing many fine athletes, he went to work as a shearers tar boy at the age of thirteen and laboured on various stations in the area. As a young man he was a champion sprinter winning the Nyah and Warracknabeal gifts and also boxing in the Jimmy Sharmans boxing troupe in sideshow alley. He later went on to be recruited to play for Carlton Football Club in the VFL but racist attitudes present at the time prevented an appearance. He subsequently joined Fitzroy Football Club where he played form 1932,  and in 1935 was to become the first aboriginal to be selected in the Victorian State side. In 1939 a knee injury forced his retirement from the club.
 Apart from his sporting achievements he become involved with the Church of Christ in 1935 and later went on to become a pastor within the Church. During the early years of world war two he was called up into the army but was quickly discharged at police request due to his mentoring and social work with aboriginal people in the Fitzroy area, during this time he was wedded to his late brothers wife Gladys and in their 39 years together had three children and raising his brothers three children. After the war years Douglas became even  more deeply involved in indigenous issues within his local and broader community and becoming a leader in the calls for reconcilliation between blacks and whites, and a Field Officer in the Aboriginal Advancement League, and the church where he was eventually ordained to the ministry. He also went on to to become a founding member of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. In 1962  Douglas was named Victorias Father of the year on Fathers day and 1968 an Officer of the Order of the British Empire(MBE 1957) the year 1972 saw him bacome the first Aboriginal person ever to be knighted, receiving the honour of Knight Bachelor. On the 1st of December 1976 Sir Douglass was appointed to arguably his highest honour becoming the 28th Governor of South Australia but he was forced to retire on the 30th of April the following year due to ill health. As with Sir Douglas's knighthood he was the first Aboriginal to be appointed to such a prestigious office. In the year 1977 Her Majesty the Queen appointed him to be a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, and in 1991 the suburb of Nicholls was named after him in the nations capital in Canberra. He died on the fourth of June 1988 and was interred at the cemeterary in Cummeragunja.
It is not the place of the young fogey to lecture others on who should be their leaders, but as Australians we can all only hope that in the future men of Sir Douglas Nicholls calibre emerge once again to lead us and to become our role models or we risk seeing the images and debates that took place earlier this week repeated in our future.     

2012 Australia Day Honours List

The young fogey would like to extend his congratulations to all those who were honoured in the Australia Day Honours List on this day the 26th of January 2012 a full list of all recipients can be viewed here http://www.gg.gov.au/content.php/page/id/86 may they all live up to the honour bestowed upon them so graciously by Her Majesty the Queen of Australia.

Australian of the Year Mr Geoffrey Rush

So on the eve of Australia Day in the nations capital Canberra the Prime Minister has announced the 2012 Australian of the year, this time the title was given to award winning actor Mr Geoffrey Rush. Firstly the young fogey would like to state that he is certainly no fan of such an award to begin with, the actions of naming a singular individual( in more recent times also added has been young australian and senior australian and local hero) as the top Australian of the year is in fact unaustralian in this fogey's opinion. One would much prefer to see a larger number of deserving recipients bestowed with a Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia or a similar honour. Be that as it may the selection of Mr Rush and no slight intended towards him(Im actually a fan of many of his films) personally was a very poor choice if one had to be made. Some of the nominees included The Morecombe family who after loosing their son in a horrendous incident became prominent child welfare advocates, ACM Angus Houston AC AFC a man who has served this country for many years retiring as CDF  or Father Chris Riley AM who founded a well known youth charity or Dr John Boffa who has worked for 23 years as an indigenous health campaigner in the remote regions of the Northern Territory. Yet  somehow an actor who is generously remunerated for his work was deemed to be more deserving of the honour. Politics and Labors flattering of the arts is the reason behind this selection in this young fogey's opinion.

Sir Winston Churchill 30 Nov 1874- 24 Jan 1965

Today marks the passing of the RT Hon Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill KG OM CH TD PC DL FRS soldier, statesman, orator and artist may he RIP

Who pays for the Gifts?

Those who have been following the press in recent days would have noticed that there is a continuing story in regard to who covers costs of gifts presented by royals when undertaking duties in Australia. There are claims and confirmed by the PMs office that Her Majesty billed Australian taxpayers almost 15,000 dollars for gifts that she and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh presented during their last visit here in October. However where the story becomes interesting is that today Buckingham Palace has denied the story and stated all gifts are paid for by the Royal Household which brought a reconfirmation from the PMs office that it was the Australian Government who will be covering the cost of the gifts.  Now to the young fogey, who covers the costs for gifts given during a royal tour is not all that important. But it is of concern that under this government the PMs office is continually at odds with the Palace. Recently when summoned to meet with Her Majesty privately in London for the royal wedding, there were quickly claims from journalists citing two sources close to the PM that the meeting concerned Her Majesty giving what amounted to an order to make Australia a republic now even if the story were true(the young fogey suspects highly doubtful) the PM broke the convention of trust where private conversations with the sovereign should not be made public . We now have the PMs office in a war of words with the palace over who is picking up the tab in regard to gifts.  Where will it lead who knows but Im sure of this it wont be the last stunt leading up to Australia Day with republicans trying to grab a headline

The Imperial Order of the Double Dragon

On this, the eve of the Chinese New Year, and 2012 being the year of the dragon, the young fogey thought he would share some information concerning an order little known today that existed during the reign of the Qing dynasty. The first known award of a double dragon was made in 1864. However its not until December 1881 under Emperor Kuangsi that the first documentation concerning regulations were released by the Qing Foreign Ministry, the order then solely the preserve of foreigners, and it was at this time that the order took on the more common aspects in design and structure used in european style orders. This series of awards become known as the first series with the ribbon having the embroidered dragon upon the sash.
 In 1897 the design of the order was changed from the more rounded example to that of a star shape and the ribbon became red, this style came to be referred to as the second type. It wasnt until 1908 that the order could be bestowed upon the Emperors own subjects ceasing to be an honour purely for foreigners.
The Order had rather a complicated structure which was broken down into Three Divisions and within each Division there were three classes. The First Division was primarily for sovereigns, other royals, ministers of state and the most senior of military officials, Second Division was for senior  military officers, consuls general, heads of departments etc and the Thrid Division being for military officers of the rank of colonel and below, attaches, professors and consulate staff.
 With the fall of the Qing dynasty the order it seems ceased to be awarded( I would be interested to hear if anyone can provide information to the contrary) with PuYi as the Kangde Emperor establishing a new series of Orders for the Manchukuo State

Gong Xi Fai Cai

A New Australian Honours System

Once again the time will soon be upon us when the Australia Day Honours List will be announced and while the majority of Australians will pay little interest and the media not much more, those of us with more than a passing interest in such things can only shake our heads at what has evolved to become the Australian Honours System.
 The Order of Australia established in 1975 on the advice of the PM Gough Whitlam consisted of the grades Companion, Officer and Member it being modelled upon the Order of Canada which was established some years earlier in 1967. Upon the advice to Her Majesty  of Whitlams successor as PM Malcom Fraser in 1976 the grade of Knight/Dame was added and the Medal of the Order. In 1983 with the election of the Labor Hawke government the rank of Knight/Dame was abolished with only  fourteen Knights and Dames added in that time. Obviously it had become to exclusive with the majority of the appointees being Vice Regal Representatives, Politicians or Senior Judges and an easy target in the class war.
Whilst the Order was split into two divisions one being the General Division the other the Military Division this Fogey says that the Order of Australia should only consist of a single division with all appointees being equal in grade. 
With those who administer the system continuously opposing calls for Australia to follow other nations examples and create other orders that compliment the Order of Australia, rather than rely on the one size fits all as is currently the case, there truly is such a requirement and there is certainly argument for the return of the grade of Knight/Dame though on a far more equitable basis. However it is suggested by some that honours that bestow a prefix title are somehow foreign or not matching the egalitarian spirit, this Young Fogey argues on the contrary, that what has made this country great from the very beginning is the ability of all no matter their background to harvest the rewards of success. However one accepts that some, for personal reasons, maybe uncomfortable with the  title Sir or Dame, and for that reason they could opt to not be dubbed and simply use the relevant postnominals.
 Below is listed a suggested new list of Orders for Her Majesties Australian subjects in a improved Honours System
*A supreme national order(title yet to be determined) replacing the current orders of the Garter and Thistle, these are primarily national orders of England and Scotland, Australia should have its own equivalent, whilst a regrettable loss due to their prestige etc these orders too were once young and in time our own will gain esteem. It would be  limited to approximately 24 appointees plus extra royal knights/dames with visiting foreign royals eligible as extras. This Order would be within the sovereigns own personal gift and made with the approval  of the Prime Minister

* The Order of Australia would be expanded to consist of the grade of Knight Grand Companion (GCA) and Knight Companion(KCA) then the current Companion, Officer, Member and Medal of the Order. The Grand Companion could be conferred upon visiting Presidential Heads of State. There would be no limit to the number of appointments to the order overall but a limit yet to be determined annually for GCA and KCA perhaps six GCA and twenty KCA

*A new Order would be established with recipients to be known as Companions of the Honourable Order of Excellence(CE) the honour like the Order of Merit and Companion of Honour would bestow no prefix and primarily honour service to the Arts, Science, Politics and Religion with a limit of 42 appointees.

* Her Majesty would still retain the Royal Prerogative to bestow the Order of Merit and Royal Victorian Order and the status of the Order of St John would remain the same.

The Queen of Australia

What better way to open this blog than with a picture of, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. And long may she remain so.