International Women's Day: Dames and The Gazette

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we take a look through the archives at some of the first dame appointments to orders of chivalry recorded in The Gazette.

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire insignia

What is a dame?

Being appointed a dame in one of the orders of chivalry is one of the highest honours in the United Kingdom. It is usually granted to women who have made a significant contribution to their field, often on a national level. Those appointed are entitled to style themselves ‘Dame’.

When were the first dame appointments recorded in The Gazette?

The appointment of dames to orders of chivalry has been recorded in The Gazette for over a century. The first women to be appointed to an order on the same basis as a man who would have been styled ‘Sir’ was the Begum of Bhopal, who became a member of the Order of the Star of India in 1861 (Gazette issue 22523).

Order of the British Empire

The Order of the British Empire was created by King George V on 4 June 1917 (gazetted on 24 August 1917 (Gazette issue 30250)) to recognise 'such persons, male or female, as may have rendered or shall hereafter render important services to Our Empire’. It consists of five classes that were open to both women and men, two of which appointed dames as the official equivalent of knights.

The first Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE) was Queen Mary, while Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry was the first woman to be appointed to be a Dame Commander (DBE). An active member of the Suffragette movement, Marchioness of Londonderry was the Colonel-in-Chief of the Women's Volunteer Reserve, a female volunteer force that supported the war effort during World War I by raising funds and providing services such as canteens and clubs for soldiers.

Royal Victorian Order

The Royal Victorian Order was established by Queen Victoria on 23 April 1896 to recognise distinguished service to the Monarch and members of the Royal Family (Gazette issue 26733).

Queen Mary was again the first Dame Grand Cross to be appointed to the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) on 23 June 1936 (Gazette issue 34296), this time by King Edward VIII, while a year later the first Dame Commander (DCVO) appointed to the order was Lady Helen Colville (Gazette issue 34396). She was appointed on 11 May 1937 while serving as a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary. Lady Colville would later also be appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1953 for her “social work, including services to the welfare of mothers and children” (Gazette issue 39863).

Order of St Michael and St George

Founded King George III, with the formal documents being completed on his behalf by his son George in 1818, the Order of St Michael and St George was originally awarded to those in high positions in the Ionian Islands and Malta, which had been placed under British protection. The order has since been expanded to recognise distinguished service in British territories, as well as more generally in foreign affairs.

The order was opened to women for the first time on 1 January 1965, when a Dame Commander (DCMG) was conferred on Nancy Parkinson of the British Council (Gazette issue 43529). More than 200 women have joined since then, and the first ordinary Dame Grand Cross (GCMG) was Minita Gordon, the Governor-General of Belize, who was appointed on 14 February 1984 (Gazette issue 49665).

Order of the Bath

Established by King George I in 1725, The Most Honourable Order of the Bath recognises senior civil servants and military officers. The order is one the most senior orders of merit in Britain, after the Order of the Garter and the Order the Thistle. 

The first Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) was Mildred Riddelsdell. Appointed on 31 December 1971 (Gazette issue 45554), she was a civil servant who was instrumental in setting up “the contributory benefits that form a fundamental part of the welfare state”₁ after the second world war.

On 2 April 1975, the widow of George V’s third son Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Alice, Duchess of Gloucester became the first woman to be appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) (Gazette issue 46540). She had previously been appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1937 (Gazette issue 34396) and Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1948 (Gazette issue 38161).

What other dame appointments have been recorded in The Gazette?

Judi Dench

Actors

Some of Britain’s most celebrated actors have been appointed as dames in the last century for services to cinema, television and acting, including:

Sport

Though some of Britain’s most iconic sportspersons were appointed to orders of chivalry in the 20th century, it’s only since the turn of the millennium that athletes, predominantly Olympic athletes, have received damehoods in significant numbers. These include:

Agatha Christie

Music, arts and literature

The arts have always been well represented in the Birthday and New Year honours lists, with some of Britain’s most influential musicians, artists and authors recognised by the monarch, including:

Others

Elsewhere, damehoods have been awarded to some of the UK’s most influential personalities in the worlds of fashion, broadcasting and cooking, including:

Are dames ranked the same as knights?

Some dames and knights are ranked the same if they are appointed in the same order and same rank, for example Knight Grand Cross and Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBEs).

However, the order of wear describes the ranking of honours, decorations and medals and how they should be worn in the United Kingdom, certain countries of the Commonwealth and in Overseas Territories. Therefore, some knights rank higher than dames, and vice versa.

One interesting note, however, relates to male and female justices of the High Court in the United Kingdom. All male justices of the High Court are made a knight bachelor, while all women justices are made DBEs. According to the order of wear, this means that all women justices are given a higher-ranking honour than their male counterparts.

Can foreign citizens be appointed a dame?

Citizens of all 15 commonwealth realms may receive a damehood through the UK honours system, however it should be noted that at present not all commonwealth realms operate the UK system.

The Foreign Office does also occasionally recommend ‘honorary’ damehoods for foreign citizens. The recipient is entitled to place initials after her name, but unlike citizens of countries that have the King as their head of state, they are not entitled to style themselves ‘Dame’.

Examples of ‘honorary’ dames include:

  • French lawyer and politician Simone Veil was a Holocaust survivor who served as France's Minister of Health between 1993 and 1995, and was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1998.
  • Italian philologist Anna Morpurgo Davies became an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2001.
  • Irish opera singer Ann Murray was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the Golden Jubilee Honours in 2002 for her services to music.
  • American actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) in 2014 for “services to UK foreign policy and the campaign to end warzone sexual violence.”

Where can I see dame appointments in The Gazette?

New Year and Birthday Honours lists

New dames are often announced in the New Year and Birthday Honours lists, which are published officially in The Gazette at New Year and on the King's official birthday.

You can read every official Honours list published in The Gazette since 1860 by clicking on the links below:

New Year and Birthday Honours lists (1937-2025)

New Year and Birthday Honours lists (1860 to 1936)

Commonwealth Honours lists

Citizens of all 15 commonwealth realms may also receive damehoods through the UK honours system. Countries who can publish Birthday and New Year Honours lists in The Gazette include:

  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Australia
  • Bahamas
  • Belize
  • Canada
  • Cook Islands
  • Grenada
  • Jamaica
  • Papua New Guinea
  • St Christopher and Nevis
  • Saint Lucia
  • St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Solomon Islands
  • Tuvalu

Commonwealth New Year and Birthday Honours

Searching The Gazette

Dames can also be announced in other supplements throughout the year. You can search for all dames that have been announced in The Gazette by heading to the awards and accreditation notices page.

Providing details will greatly improve your chances of successful search. For example:

  • Add a date range. The reigning monarch announces the New Year Honours at the end of each year and their Birthday Honours in June, therefore if someone was appointed a dame in the 2002 New Year Honours list, for example, use the date range starting from 28/12/01 to 01/01/02. If you know the year of an award but do not know whether someone was awarded in the New Year Honours or monarch's Birthday Honours, for example, it's best to change the date range starting from 28/12/01 to 01/07/02, for example.
  • Add the citation to your search. For both New Year and Birthday Honours, if you know what the individual was awarded their honour for, use the keywords 'for services to'.
  • Use the Honours and Awards search function to narrow your search if you want to find the recipients of a certain award.

Search The Gazette

See also

What is the difference between a CBE, OBE, MBE and a knighthood?

The honours system during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II

What is the 'Order of Wear' for British honours, decorations and medals?

Images

GOV.UK

Alamy

Alamy

References

  1. The Guardian (2006) Obituary: Dame Mildred Riddelsdell. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/aug/02/guardianobituaries.obituaries (Accessed: 27 February 2025).

Publication updated

6 March 2025

Any opinion expressed in this article is that of the author and the author alone, and does not necessarily represent that of The Gazette.