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
supernumerary members. The monarch alone decides who is appointed. 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. 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. From the 18th century, the sovereign made their choices on the advice of the
government. In 1946, with the agreement of
Prime Minister Clement Attlee and
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. Appointments are typically announced on
Saint George's Day (23 April). 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. 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, Emperor
Franz Joseph I of Austria, and
Prince Henry of Prussia, were struck off the roll of the order, their appointments being annulled in 1915. The banner of King
Victor Emmanuel III was removed from the chapel after
Italy entered World War II against the United Kingdom and its allies in 1940. The banner of Emperor
Hirohito was removed from St George's Chapel when
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. In 2025,
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York) was struck off the roll and his banner was removed from the chapel amidst ongoing controversy surrounding his association with
Jeffrey Epstein. His appointment was annulled on 30 October 2025.
Officers The Order has six officers: the
Prelate, the
Chancellor, the Register, the
Garter Principal King of Arms, the
Usher, and the Secretary. 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.
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. 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, 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, 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. The office of Register has been held by the
Dean of Windsor since 1558. 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
officers of arms at the College. As the title suggests, Garter Principal King of Arms has specific duties as the Order's officer of arms, attending to the companions'
coats of arms and
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. The office of Usher is held by the
Usher of the Black Rod, who is also the
Serjeant-at-Arms of the
House of Lords. •
Prelate:
Philip Mounstephen,
Bishop of Winchester (
ex officio, 2023) •
Chancellor:
Eliza Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller (2024) •
Register:
Christopher Cocksworth, Dean of Windsor (
ex officio, 2023) •
King of Arms:
David White , Garter Principal King of Arms (
ex officio, 2021) •
Secretary: Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Segrave (2024) •
Usher: Lieutenant General
Ed Davis , Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod (
ex officio, 2025) ==Military Knights of Windsor==