Order of The British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry comprising five classes in civil and military divisions. It is the most junior of the British orders of chivalry, and the largest, with over 100,000 living members worldwide.The two highest two ranks of the order, the Knight/Dame Grand Cross and Knight/Dame Commander, admit an individual into knighthood or damehood automatically allowing the recipient to use the title Sir or Dame.
Read more about this topic: 1999 New Year Honours, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Famous quotes containing the words order, british and/or empire:
“In order to acquire a growing and lasting respect in society, it is a good thing, if you possess great talent, to give, early in your youth, a very hard kick to the right shin of the society that you love. After that, be a snob.”
—Salvador Dali (1904–1989)
“The earth is mankind’s ultimate haven, our blessed terra firma. When it trembles and gives way beneath our feet, it’s as though one of God’s cheques has bounced.”
—Gilbert Adair, British author, critic. quoted in: London Sunday Correspondent Magazine (Dec. 24, 1989)
“Every man is the lord of a realm beside which the earthly empire of the Czar is but a petty state, a hummock left by the ice.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)