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- The queen has appointed Kate Middleton a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), the highest rank in a form of chivalry personally granted by the sovereign to recognize one’s service.
- Other royals with the rank include Prince Philip, Duchess Camilla, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
- The appointment coincides with Kate’s eighth wedding anniversary to Prince William.
The queen has a special gift for Kate Middleton on her eighth anniversary to Prince William. The sovereign has appointed the Duchess of Cambridge to be a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), Buckingham Palace announced in a statement today.
The honor is a form of chivalry personally given by the queen for “services to the sovereign,” the statement explained. It was originally established by Queen Victoria (hence the name) in 1896 to “personally thank and honor people who had helped her directly, or represented her across the Empire,” royal correspondent Omid Scobie reported.
The Dame Grand Cross (or Knight Grand Cross) is the highest ranking in the order, royal reporter Chris Ship of ITV points out. In addition to Duchess Kate, other royal family members with this title include Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall (Prince Charles’s wife), who was appointed in 2012; Sophie, Countess of Wessex (Prince Edward’s Wife) who was appointed in 2010; and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh (the queen’s own husband), who was just appointed in 2017. Prince Harry was appointed a Knight Commander of the order (which is lower than a GCVO) in 2015.
The order is denoted by a Maltese cross, which varies in size according to rank, Scobie also points out.
The Duchess of Cambridge previously received a Royal Family Order from the queen, which is a small portrait of the monarch attached to a ribbon and gifted to members of the royal family, according to the royals’ official website. She publicly debuted the badge during a state dinner at Buckingham Palace in October 2018.
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