British Knighthood In Modern World
Introduction
The British Honours System is a centuries-old structure established by the British monarchy to reward long-term and outstanding individual achievements and contributions to the United Kingdom. Of all Orders, knighthood is one of the oldest and most honorable positions from the British monarchy. Men who receive this honor can add “Sir” to their names, therefore the famous former football manager of Manchester United, Alex Ferguson, the renowned English rock musician, Elton John, and the founder and mentor of X-Men, Professor Charles Xavier, or by his real name, Patrick Stewart are all addressed as “Sir”.
So what does it really mean to become a knight? Do you get a sword and ride on horses? Do you get an armor and physically fight for the country when there is war? For the inquiring minds, in this essay, I will cast a light on every aspects of modern British knighthood.
What is the concept of knighthood in modern society?
When someone mention the word “knight”, the first images that cross through our minds are usually swords, armors, horses, kings and empires. The image of a man on a horse, wearing his shining armor, fighting for what is right and saving people’s lives has been embedded in our minds for so long. On that account, the phrase “knight in shining armor” was born. During Medieval times, the position was granted to noble beings, mostly for their military service.
However, in modern days, the idea is less about titles and defending the country. The concept of modern knighthood rather focuses more on doing good deeds and having a positive impact on the community and the country. A nominee for this honor needs to have major work and achievements that will inspire and influence others.
How to be knighted by the monarchy?
“Knighthood lies above eternity; it doesn’t live off fame, but rather deeds. ” Certainly, all man who has divine benevolence and justice, who contributes to the public service of the United Kingdom, will be nominated to be knighted by the Queen. Those include people with political achievements, sporting achievements, entertainment achievements, business achievements or public service contributions.
You can either be nominated as a British citizen or a non-British citizen. A British citizen should be recommended by the government or the civil servant. The Prime Minister then makes an annual list called the New Year’s Honours List, and the people on the list will be endowed with knighthood by the reigning monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II or her vice-regal representative. He may then carry the title “Sir”.
A non-British citizen should be nominated by Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. That person must demonstrate the outstanding and inspirational contributions he has made to Great Britain. However, he cannot be addressed as “Sir”. Some foreign honorary British knights include the 43rd President of the United States of America – George Bush, the founder of Microsoft – Bill Gates and the renowned American filmmaker – Steven Spielberg and so on.
The Queen will then send a letter asking if the person would be willing to accept the award or not. If the person accepts the honor, he must write back to the Queen and attend the knighting ceremony, which is held annually. In ceremony of knighting, the knight-elect kneels on a knighting-stool in front of The Queen, who then lays the sword blade on the knight's right and then left shoulder. After he has been dubbed, the new knight stands up, and The Queen invests the knight with the insignia of the Order to which he has been appointed, or the Badge of a Knight Bachelor.
On the other hand, you do not need to accept the title if you do not want to. You can just turn down the honor. As a matter of fact, 2% out of 3000 people annually chosen still reject the offer. In spite of the fact that other famous English rockers such as Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney accepted the offer, David Bowie twice refused to become a knight insofar as he felt the whole business was a waste of time. Stephen Hawking publicly turned down knighthood as he explained in interviews that he dislikes the whole concept. John Lennon also declined this award and he cited Britain’s involvement in the Nigerian Civil War and their support of American pursuits in Vietnam in his reply to the Queen.
The perquisites of being knighted
Receiving such a prestigious award from the Queen is such a special and remarkable event in one’s life. This kind of acknowledgment definitely gains worldwide reputation and is a true pride to the recipient’s friends and relatives.
One obvious thing that one can get from the title is respect. Not everyone can be knighted by the Queen, respectively, he should feel proud of himself for achieving such an exceptional accomplishment, yet he should feel humble and noble in his every act in light of the fact that he is a role model for everyone to look at and to follow his footsteps.
The recognition one receive from the honor will open new doors, new opportunities, and it will give the recipient a raised profile, therefore he will have the ability to raise awareness of his ideas and projects. His achievements will then be pushed even further.
One more fact is that the recipient of the honor will be formally addressed as “Sir”, except for those who are non-British citizens, as I have mentioned above.
Rules for a knight
“Rules For A Knight” is a nicely written book by Ethan Hawke. The book tells the life of Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke of Cornwall as a knight. Fearing death is close, he wrote a letter to his children to give them a set of inspiring life lessons. Each chapter begins with a quote about solitude, humility, gratitude, pride, patience, generosity discipline, love, death, . . . then Hawke illustrates the rules with additional stories. Below are some of the traits that he mentioned in the book:
Rule #8: Honesty
“A dishonest tongue and a dishonest mind waste time, and therefore waste our lives. ”
Rule #12: Justice
“There is only one thing for which a knight has no patience: injustice. Every true knight fights for human dignity at all times. ”
Rule #18: Equality
“Every knight holds human equality as an unwavering truth. A knight is never present when men or women are being degraded or compromised in any way, because if a knight were present, those committing the hurtful acts or words would be made to stop. ”
Above is just three of twenty virtues that provide directions and life lessons on how to live a principled, virtuous, humble and loving life. Hawke imparted his philosophy as well as wisdom through twenty lessons, moreover, be simple as those may be, they have a huge impact on the readers as they feel engaged in every lesson. This book full of valuable life lessons is truly a self-help book for children and adults of all times.
Even though this book was written in the Middle Ages, however, these rules do apply to knights in the modern period. The person may be knighted for his service to politics, music, philosophy, science, literature, notwithstanding, that also means he is now in the public eye, being the person that is being judged on his every move as well as being the role model for people to look up to. Accordingly, it is important for him to portray himself as a noble man. He doesn’t necessarily need to have all twenty traits mentioned in the book, owing to the fact that everyone has their own flaws, nevertheless, he needs to understand that being knighted means doing act of kindness, fighting for justice, and devoting himself and his accomplishments to the country. This also does not mean that he should feel pressured and stop being himself but he should stay true to himself and continue his specialized work to influence the community with his passion and devotion to make the world a better place.
Conclusion
Do you still think that knight arrives in shining armor on a good horse? I truly hope that after reading this essay, you can understand more about British knights in modern society, who they are, what they do, and what it takes to become one of them. While doing research for this essay, I have found a new and interesting aspect of British cultures that I never really noticed. To be knighted by the monarchy is truly an honor, a spotlight in a person’s lifetime, and congratulations as well as admiration to each and every recipient of this award. These people really inspired me to work harder at what I am doing and to contribute more to the community with my knowledge an abilities. Who knows? Perhaps in the future maybe you and I can be knighted?
