George VI received numerous decorations and honorary appointments, both during and before his time as monarch of the United Kingdom and the dominions. Of those listed below; where two dates are shown, the first indicates the date of receiving the award or title, and the second indicates the date of its loss or renunciation.
Titles, styles, and honours
A foundation plaque at Manchester Town Hall records the titles of George VI as King-Emperor
The Dominions were self-governing entities which had the as their respective head of state the same person as was the British sovereign.[12][13] These Dominions typically used the style and title of the sovereign as proclaimed in the United Kingdom, which, from the reign of Edward VII came to include the phrase, “and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas”,[d] signifying their reign over said Dominions.[15] However, the sovereign reigned in these Dominions in a capacity independent from their position as monarch of the United Kingdom, similar in meaning and usage to, but not the same as modern-day Commonwealth realms, in that they lacked a separate title for each Dominion, until the reign of Elizabeth II. George VI's reign in the Dominions does not completely match his reign in the United Kingdom and his role as monarch in the Irish Free State is debated.[16]
Per the terms of the Indian Independence Act, the imperial title was to be abolished. However, George VI issued a royal proclamation for that purpose and to that effect only on 22 June 1948, effectively reigning as king in the newly created Dominions of India and Pakistan whilst still bearing the imperial title for himself and his consort.[17]
The title of Kaisar-i-Hind was coined in 1876 by the orientalist G. W. Leitner as the imperial title for the sovereign[18] and was also employed in an official capacity, most notably to denote Crown property in India.[19] This title continues to persist as a placeholder to the modern day in official records dating to the British era, despite the prohibition and deprecation of the use of the said title and all its variants for any and all purposes.[20] Its usage is to be so understood as to denote the Government of India per the relevant provisions of the Government Grants Act,[21] read alongside and in the context of the Transfer of Property Act and the Repealing and Amending (Second) Act.[22][23]
^The legal basis for the sovereign’s use of the title has been disputed. George VI’s father, George V was given legal advice that it was “extremely unlikely” that he was, in fact, the Duke of Lancaster.[3]
^There is no basis in law for the title[5] and the legal basis of the monarch’s sovereignty is as successor to the Dukes of Normandy.[6] Jersey and Guernsey and the other Channel Islands were part of the Duchy of Normandy when the Duke of Normandy was also the king of England.[4] Under the Treaty of Paris (1259) the king of England renounced his claims to the Duchy but retained possession of the islands.[7]
^George VI held his German titles by virtue of being a descendant of the Prince Consort. All German degrees, styles, dignities, titles, honors, and appellations were renounced on 17 July 1917 by George V for himself, his descendants, and all other descendants of Queen Victoria. An amendment to the House laws of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha barred any descendant of a member of the ducal house who was in 1917 a national of a country which waged war against the German Empire from succeeding to the ducal throne, effectively removing any remote succession rights that the British royalty still held by virtue of the partial renunciation by Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales.[citation needed]
^Later dropped in its entirety in favour of “and of Her other Realms and Territories” during the reign of Elizabeth II.[14]
^Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 595.
^M. & B. Wattel (2009), Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur de 1805 à nos jours. Titulaires français et étrangers, Paris: Archives & Culture, p. 463, ISBN978-2-35077-135-9
^Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1944) [1st pub.:1801]. Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1944 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1944] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. p. 17. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via da:DIS Danmark.
^"Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden", Norges Statskalender for Aaret 1930 (in Norwegian), Oslo: Forlagt av H. Aschehoug & Co. (w. Nygaard), 1930, pp. 995–996 – via runeberg.org
^Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1952) [1st pub.:1801]. Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1952 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1952] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. p. 18 – via da:DIS Danmark.
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