With Obama meeting the queen, I got to wondering about US presidents getting knighted, and how weird that would be. Google tells me only Reagan and Bush were knighted, after their terms.
For giggles, what would happen if Obama accepted a knighthood while being president?
Will Obama ever be knighted? It doesn’t seem to be something US presidents other than a couple well-known half-crazy attention whores would covet. Or, is the queen really stingy with it and only gives it to members of her not-so-secret Republican Christian Conservative New World Order for Satan Party? She should be more discreet really.
Any other less plausible reasons only Reagan and Bush were knighted?
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
“Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke’s Peerage, said Monday that Mr. Reagan was offered a knighthood ‘because of his special contribution to the British Government under Mrs. Thatcher.’ ‘He helped Mrs. Thatcher in the Falklands War and in many different ways,’ he said.”
It’s not really up to the Queen. The vast majority of honours are selected by honours committees and approved by government ministers, for the Queen to rubber-stamp. Reagan, for example, was probably Margaret Thatcher’s idea.
The Order of the Garter, Order of the Thistle, and the Royal Victorian Order are with the sovereign’s personal gift. The Queen alone decides who get’s those. All other titles & decorations are granted on the advice of her ministers.
Correct. They get the letters after their name, but not the right to be called Sir Ronald Reagan or Sir George Bush.
No, because it was only an honorary award to begin with. I am not sure what exactly is the difference between an “honorary” knighthood" and an “official” knighthood, but apparently you can be stripped of US citizenship over it. The Constitution only forbids titles to people on the government payroll, but there is some legislation in the US Code that also forbids it to private citizens, as well.
A British “order of chivalry” typically has five ranks:
Knight Grand Cross
Knight Commander
Commander
Officer
Member
Commoners are eligible to recieve the bottom three ranks, and Knights are eligible to recieve the top two grades. The “Knighthood” and the “Order” are technically separate entities. With foreigners, the crown bestows an “honorary” order, which sidesteps the legal issues.
In a continental European order, the ranks are usually:
Grand Commander
Grand Officer
Commander
Officer
Chevalier
Technically, “chevalier” means the same as “knight”, but US citizens receive continental orders all the time, and the US government doesn’t bat an eye.
That would be insane. Knighthoods are granted by foreign states. If that’s true, then any country can unilaterally put any person at risk of losing citizenship.
Only two in history have had five ranks (the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of the British Empire). The majority have had fewer (either three or one).
Does the US government really bat an eye about this stuff at all?
There are plenty commoners who are Order of the Garter, the highest rank of chivalry in England (Margaret Thatcher and John Major for a start). Anyway, all the cool kids are Order of Merit.
And saying that “knights are eligible to receive the top two grades” is a bit of a tautology. A substantive appointment to one of those grades makes you a knight.
