Page of Honour

UK Royal Household ceremonial position From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The only physical activity involved is usually carrying the long train of the Sovereign's robes. This position is distinct from that of a page in the Royal Household, which is the senior rank of uniformed staff.

Pages of Honour in the House of Lords at the 2024 State Opening of Parliament

Pages of Honour participate in major ceremonies involving the British monarch, including coronations and the State Opening of Parliament. It is usually a distinction granted to teenage sons of members of the nobility and gentry, and especially of senior members of the Royal Household.

Livery

Pages of Honour in England wear a scarlet frock coat with gold trimmings, a white satin waistcoat, white breeches and hose, white gloves, black buckled shoes and a lace cravat and ruffles. A sword is also worn with the outfit and a feathered three-cornered hat is provided.[1] In Scotland the outfit is identical, but in green rather than scarlet (as seen periodically at the Thistle Service in Edinburgh).[2] In Ireland, when Pages of Honour were attendant upon the King, Pages of Honour wore exactly the same uniform as at the English Court, except that the colour was St. Patrick's blue with silver lace.[1]

At coronations, the peers who carry regalia in the procession (and others with particular roles in the service) were expected to have their own pages in attendance. These pages are directed to wear "the same pattern of clothes as the Pages of Honour wear, but of the Livery colour of the Lords they attend... [except that] ...the Royal liveries being scarlet and gold, the use of this combination of colours is restricted to the Pages of Honour, and in the case of a Peer whose colours are scarlet and gold, for scarlet some variant, such as murrey or claret, should be used."[3]

Pages of Honour by monarch

Charles II

James II

William III

John Brockhuisen appears in the post-mortem accounts of the Board of Green Cloth as a page of honour to William III, but this may be an error, as he appears elsewhere as a pensioner after serving as Queen Mary's page of honour.

Anne

George I

George II

George III

George IV

William IV

Victoria

Edward VII

George V

Edward VIII

George VI

Elizabeth II

Charles III

The pages of honour at the 2023 coronation were:[46]

Notes

  1. Son of Sir Arthur Bigge.
  2. Son of the Hon. George Crichton.
  3. Son of the Hon. Charles Harbord.
  4. Son of the Hon. John Dawnay.
  5. Son of the Hon. Alec Hardinge.
  6. Son of the Hon. George Crichton.
  7. Son of the Hon. Alec Hardinge.
  8. Son of the Hon. Ben Wilson.
  9. Son of the Hon. Alec Hardinge.
  10. Son of Sir George Paynter.
  11. Son of Sir Alexander Abel Smith and Lady Abel Smith, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, and half-brother of Sir Mark Palmer, 5th Baronet, First Page of Honour 1956–1959.
  12. Son of Sir Carron Greig.
  13. Son of the Hon. James Hamilton.
  14. Grandson of Sir Blair Stewart-Wilson.
  15. Son of the Hon. Rupert Soames.
  16. Great-grandson of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke.
  17. Son of Sir Iain Tennant.
  18. Son of Sir Simon Bland.
  19. Son of Sir Charles Loyd.
  20. Son of the Hon. Lachlan Maclean.
  21. Great-great-grandson of Odo Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill.
  22. Grandson of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke.
  23. Grandson of Timothy Colman.
  24. Son of the Hon. Adam Bruce.
  25. Son of Sir Guy Russell.
  26. Son of Sir Edward Ford.
  27. Son of Sir Jock Colville.
  28. Son of the Hon. David Lytton Cobbold.
  29. Grandson of Sarah Troughton.
  30. Son of the Hon. Edward Tollemache.
  31. Grandson of Hugh van Cutsem.

References

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