Membership
Every Russian Grand Duchess was conferred the Grand Cross of the Order at her christening (or marriage into the Romanov family), and Princesses of the Imperial Blood were invested upon attaining their majority at 18.
In addition to the royal members, a fixed number (106) of other members were permitted by the statutes:
- 12 Dames Grand Cross
- 94 Dames Small Cross
The twelve Dames Grand Cross were typically female members of foreign Ruling Houses. Queen Alexandra of Great Britain was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Catherine by Alexander II, Princess Alice of Greece (Prince Phillip's mother) was also a member of the Order.
The only known award of the order to a male was in 1727 to then 13-year old prince Alexandre Menshikov, son of the best friend of tzar Peter I of Russia.
The Order of St Catherine being the only award they were entitled to give without the presence or permission of the Tsar or Tsarina, who were supposed dead.
The Dames Small Cross were all women of the highest nobility, who were part of the Suite of the Empress and had engaged in important philanthropic or charitable works outside of their duties at Court.
Read more about this topic: Order Of Saint Catherine
Famous quotes containing the word membership:
“The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don’t acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)