Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert was a British Royal Family Order instituted on 10 February 1862[1] by Queen Victoria, and enlarged on 10 October 1864, 15 November 1865, and 15 March 1880. No award was made after the death of Queen Victoria.
Royal Order of Victoria and Albert | |
---|---|
The four grades of the Order | |
Awarded by the Sovereign, on the advice of Government | |
Type | Royal Family Order |
Ribbon | White |
Eligibility | Female members of the British Royal Family and female courtiers |
Status | Defunct; not awarded since the death of Queen Victoria, 1901 |
Post-nominals | VA |
Ribbon of the Order |
The order had four classes and was only granted to female members of the British Royal Family and female courtiers. For the first three classes, the badge consisted of a medallion of Queen Victoria and Albert, The Prince Consort, differing in the width and jewelling of the border as the classes descend, whilst the fourth substitutes a jewelled cipher. All four were surmounted by a crown, which was attached to a bow of white silk moiré ribbon. The honour conferred no rank or title upon the recipient, but recipients were entitled to use the post-nominal letters "VA".
The last holder of the Order, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, died in 1981.
Recipients
First Class
British Royal Family
- The German Empress
- The Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine
- Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
- The Princess of Wales
- The Marchioness of Lorne
- The Princess Beatrice
- The Duchess of Edinburgh
- 1879: The Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn
- The Duchess of Albany
- 1885: Princess Louise of Wales
- Princess Victoria of Wales
- Princess Maud of Wales
- The Duchess of York
- Princess Patricia of Connaught
Foreign
- The Queen of Denmark (Louise)
- The Queen of Hanover (Marie)
- 1878: The Queen of the Belgians (Marie Henriette) (on the occasion of the Silver wedding of the King and Queen)
- Princess Louis of Battenberg (Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine)
- The Queen Regent of Spain (Maria Christina)
- The Grand Duchess of Baden (Louise)
- The German Empress (Augusta Victoria)
- The Queen of Romania (Elisabeta)
- 1896: The Empress of Russia (Alexandra)
- 1898: The Queen of the Netherlands (Wilhelmina)
Second Class
British Royal Family
- Princess Marie of Edinburgh (the Queen's granddaughter, later Queen of Romania)
- Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Margaret of Connaught (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Alice of Albany (the Queen's granddaughter)
Foreign
- Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Charlotte, The Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Meinigen (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Irene, Princess Henry of Prussia (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Viktoria, Princess Adolphe of Schaumburg-Lippe (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Marie Amelie, The Duchess of Hamilton, Princess of Baden
- Princess Marie Louise, Princess Aribert of Anhalt (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Sophie, The Crown Princess of Greece (the Queen's granddaughter, later Queen of Greece)
- Princess Margaret, Princess Frederick Charles of Hesse (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (the Queen's granddaughter)
- Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (the Queen's granddaughter, later Queen of Spain)
Household
- The Countess of Mount Edgcumbe (Lady of the Bedchamber)[2]
- Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill (Lady of the Bedchamber)[3]
Third Class
- The Duchess of Sutherland
- The Dowager Duchess of Wellington
- Dowager Lady Churchill
- The Dowager Duchess of Roxburghe
- Lady Waterpark
- The Dowager Duchess of Atholl
- Viscountess Clifden
- The Dowager Countess of Mayo
- The Dowager Countess of Erroll
- Lady Abercromby
- Lady Portman
- The Countess of Mount Edgcumbe
- Countess of Gainsborough
- Dowager Lady Southampton
- The Dowager Duchess of Buccleuch
- Viscountess Jocelyn
- 1880: Albertha, Duchess of Marlborough ("in recognition of her unremitting and invaluable exertions in mitigating the misery and distress in Ireland")
- The Dowager Duchess of Bedford
- 1881: The Dowager Duchess of Abercorn
- The Duchess of Roxburghe
- 1885: Countess Spencer
- The Duchess of Buccleuch & Queensberry
- Lady Ampthill
- 1889: The Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava[4]
- Viscountess Downe
- The Countess of Antrim
- 1892: The Marchioness of Salisbury
- The Marchioness of Lansdowne
- The Countess of Lytton
- Frances, Viscountess Chewton
- Countess Cadogan
Fourth Class
- Lady Hamilton-Gordon
- Edith Codrington, Lady Codrington
- Adelaide Biddulph, Baroness Biddulph
- Lady Elizabeth Phillipa Biddulph
- Flora C.I. Macdonald
- Hon Mrs. Ferguson
- Hon Horatia C. F. Stopford
- Hon Emily Sarah Cathcart
- Lady Cust
- Mrs Magdalen Wellesley
- Lady Ponsonby
- Ina Erskine McNeill (Duchess of Argyll)
- 1889: Lady Geraldine Somerset ("as a mark of appreciation of her long and devoted service to the Duchess of Cambridge")
- Harriet Lepel Phipps
- Caroline Fanny Cavendish
- Mrs. Georgina Townshend Wilson
- Lady Cowell
- Hon. Mrs. Mallett
- Hon. Mrs. Grant
- Ethel H. M. Cadogan
- Mrs. John Haughton
Sources
- Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
- British Imperial Calendar, 1900, 1902
- The Times
See also
References
- British Imperial Calendar, 1900
- "Obituary". Obituary. The Times (30343). London. 4 November 1881. col F, p. 16.
- "The Dowager Lady Churchill". Obituaries. The Times (36335). London. 26 December 1900. col E, p. 3.
- "Court Circular". Court and Social. The Times (32607). London. 28 January 1889. col F, p. 9.