Degradation (knighthood)

Degradation is the formal term for removal of a knighthood or other honour. Modern degradation is an administrative process without public ceremony. Historically, degradation as a result of the most severe misdeeds — especially treason — was done in a public ceremony, at which the person’s spurs were broken, belt cut and sword broken over their head.

The last knight to be publicly degraded was Sir Francis Mitchell in 1621.^[1][2] Recent examples of degradation include Sir Roger Casement, whose knighthood was canceled for treason during the First World War,^[3] and Sir Anthony Blunt, whose knighthood was withdrawn in 1979.^[4]

The most recent degradations centre on the fallout from the banking crisis at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Examples include Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, who lost his knighthood in 2012 over his role in the bank's near-collapse in 2008^[5] and Sir James Crosby, the former chief executive of HBOS.^[6]