Knight Bachelor
Knight Bachelor is a British award.
When "Knight Bachelor " refers to a male British citizen who was raised as a " Knight" ( Knight ) in the personal nobility and the title " Sir " may result as a prefix to the name. In the opinion of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor Bachelor, the term goes back to the Norman- French word battalere which designates an experienced fighter on the battlefield.
There is this kind of ceremony since the reign of King Henry III. in the 13th century. Currently, this dignity is usually awarded for services to the public, but in some cases also due to a certain office. For example, all the male judge of the High Court of England and Wales Knights Bachelor.
( Knight Commander and Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the British Empire, for example, Knight Companion in the Order of the Garter ) In the ranking of a Knight Bachelor is now under the Order those levels of government orders of knighthood, which also draw the ennoblement by itself.
A female counterpart to the Knight Bachelor does not exist, female Knights always belong to one of the state order of knights, mostly the Order of the British Empire. Even foreigners who are honorary knighthood ( honorary knighthood ) always belong to such a knightly order, usually also the Order of the British Empire. It follows that "real" Knights Bachelor always are citizens of the United Kingdom, in individual cases, to citizens of that Commonwealth countries, as their head of state to recognize the British monarch (known as Commonwealth realms ).
In the corresponding ceremony ( Investiture ) the Auszuzeichnende kneels on a pillow, which he by the sovereign - is touched with a sword first on the left, then on the right shoulder - currently Queen Elizabeth II. A particularly specified " consecration formula " that is spoken here, there is not. The sovereign may be represented at the accolade also, so that in the past, other members of the royal family were entrusted with the ceremony. For example, Mick Jagger was defeated in 2003 by Prince Charles knighted.
The direct address for a knight is " Sir " together with the name ( for example, " Sir Simon " Simon Rattle ). The title is part of the name ( " Sir Simon Rattle "). In general, the Knights Bachelor lead behind her surname is no official abbreviation for the nature of their award, as is usual about the members of the knightly orders (for example, Sir Winston Churchill, KG ). Exceptionally, however, the addition of " Kt " ( knight, not to be confused with " KT " Knight of the Thistle ) are used when otherwise the fact that the person concerned is a Knight Bachelor, due to a subsequent higher award ( such as with a Life Peerage ) would not be recognizable.
As an outward sign of the ceremony, the Knights Bachelor can a body set up in 1926 for this purpose plaque on the neck or a smaller version of it wear on his lapel.
Possible and exceedingly common, however, is the combination of a Knight Bachelor with one of the lower ranks of government Knights. This can sometimes lead to confusion in the question of where the person concerned salutation refers to as "Sir". For example, Paul McCartney was in 1965 the Order of the British Empire appointed along with the other Beatles MBE as a member, the title of " Sir ", he was, however, until 1997, when Queen Elizabeth II struck him as a Knight Bachelor knighted. Similar examples are Sir Alec Guinness (CBE 1955, Knight Bachelor in 1959 ) and Sir Elton John (CBE 1995, Knight Bachelor, 1997). In contrast, about Sir Edmund Hillary was never a Knight Bachelor, but received his knighthood in 1953 as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE ).
In view of the now common practice of awarding the direction is towards that will be awarded with the appointment as a Knight Bachelor usually the life's work of a particularly important artist, scientist, athlete or businessman. The appointment as Knight Commander in one of the state order of knights, however, is rather to honor senior officials or military, who often already have a lower rank in the relevant Order of Knights - usually it involves many years of top officials in the UK government departments or senior officers such as the commander in chief of the armed forces. As an - admittedly inaccurate in detail - a rule of thumb it can be assumed that a broad public known " Sir " Knights Bachelor are mostly. The appointment of a Knight Commander Knight Bachelor has not yet occurred. The reverse case is extremely rare, examples are Sir Edward Elgar ( Knight Bachelor in 1904, GCVO 1928) and Sir John Cockcroft ( Knight Bachelor in 1948, KCB 1953).