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.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Coronation_Balcony_2023_%28King%27s_Pages%29.jpg/350px-Coronation_Balcony_2023_%28King%27s_Pages%29.jpg)
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
editPages 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
editCharles II
edit- 1661–1662: Bevil Skelton
- 1661–1669: John Napier
- 1662–1668: Sidney Godolphin
- 1664–1665: Rupert Dillon
- 1665–1671?: Thomas Felton
- 1668–1678: John Berkeley
- 1668–1676: William Legge
- 1670: Charles Wyndham
- 1671–1685: Robert Killigrew
- 1671–1685: Aubrey Porter
- 1673–1678: John Prideaux
- 1674–1678: Henry Wroth
- 1678–1685: Thomas Pulteney
- 1680–1685: Sutton Oglethorpe
- 1681–1685: Charles Skelton
James II
edit- 1685: Thomas Windsor
- 1685: Reynold Graham
- 1685: James Levinston
William III
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
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
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
George I
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
George II
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
George III
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
| Fifth Page of Honour
|
George IV
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
William IV
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
Victoria
editEdward VII
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
George V
edit![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/King_and_Queen_leaving_St._George%27s_Chapel_%28LOC%29.jpg/220px-King_and_Queen_leaving_St._George%27s_Chapel_%28LOC%29.jpg)
First Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
Edward VIII
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
George VI
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
Elizabeth II
editFirst Page of Honour
| Second Page of Honour
| Third Page of Honour
| Fourth Page of Honour
|
Charles III
edit![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/State_Opening_Pages_of_Honour_2023.jpg/220px-State_Opening_Pages_of_Honour_2023.jpg)
The pages of honour at the 2023 coronation were:[46]
- Prince George of Wales
- Lord Oliver Cholmondeley[s]
- Nicholas Barclay[t]
- Ralph Tollemache[47][u]
Notes
edit- ^ Son of Sir Henry Legge.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Son of Sir Ashley Ponsonby, 2nd Baronet.
- ^ Son of David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon.
- ^ Great-grandson of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke.
- ^ Son of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke.
- ^ Great-great-great-grandson of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and grandson of Sir Jock Colville.
- ^ Son of Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey.
- ^ Son of David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home.
- ^ Son of Michael Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
- ^ Son of Charles Stanhope, 12th Earl of Harrington.
- ^ Grandson of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke.
- ^ Son of Archibald Montgomerie, 18th Earl of Eglinton.
- ^ Son of Daniel Chatto and Lady Sarah Chatto.
- ^ Grandson of Sir Piers Legh, Master of the Household 1941–1953.
- ^ Son of Sir Jock Colville.
- ^ Son of Katharine Fraser, Mistress of Saltoun.
- ^ Great-great-grandson of Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon, of John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, and of Sidney Elphinstone, 16th Lord Elphinstone.
- ^ a b Son of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley.
- ^ a b Grandson of Sarah Troughton.
- ^ a b Son of Hon. Edward Tollemache.
References
editExternal links
edit![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)