Page of Honour

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 Queen's dress.

Pages of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II in the procession to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle during the annual service of the Order of the Garter, 2006.

While a page is a comparatively low-ranking servant, a Page of Honour is a distinguished position. 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. Pages of Honour feature in British Coronations, the State Opening of Parliament, and other ceremonies.

Livery

Pages 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) are 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
Pages of Honour carrying the train of Queen Alexandra during her anointing at the Coronation of Edward VII, depicted in a painting by Laurits Tuxen.

Charles II
  • 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

William III

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

George I

George II

George III

George IV

William IV

Victoria

Edward VII

George V

Edward VIII

George VI

Elizabeth II

References
  1. "Dress and insignia worn at His Majesty's court, issued with the authority of the lord chamberlain". Archive.org. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  2. "Photo of Page of Honour attending to the Queen in Edinburgh". Flickr.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  3. Earl Marshal's Regulations (1937) quoted in Mansfield, A., Ceremonial Costume, London: A & C Black, 1980.
  4. "Lt Colonel Charles Augustus West". Web.onetel.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
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  19. "No. 40936". The London Gazette. 27 November 1956. p. 6727.
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  23. "No. 44362". The London Gazette. 11 July 1967. p. 7641.
  24. "No. 45140". The London Gazette. 30 June 1970. p. 7205.
  25. "No. 46848". The London Gazette. 12 March 1976. p. 3813.
  26. "No. 47734". The London Gazette. 2 January 1979. p. 71.
  27. "No. 48481". The London Gazette. 2 January 1981. p. 77.
  28. "No. 49404". The London Gazette. 1 July 1983. p. 8697.
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  32. "No. 53836". The London Gazette. 1 November 1994. p. 15279.
  33. Walker, Tim (2012-03-01). "The Queen turns a page for Viscount Linley's son". Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  34. Appendix to Court Circular, 27 February 2015
  35. Court Circular, 18 June 2018
  36. "No. 40063". The London Gazette. 1 January 1954. p. 98.
  37. "No. 54036". The London Gazette. 16 May 1995. p. 6949.
  38. Appendix to Court Circular, 14 December 2012
  39. Appendix to Court Circular, 30 June 2019
  40. "No. 39822". The London Gazette. 10 April 1953. p. 1971.
  41. Appendix to Court Circular, 13 July 2015
  42. "No. 40008". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 November 1953. p. 5921.
  43. "No. 40733". The London Gazette. 16 March 1956. p. 1583.
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