Hockney, Howard are new members
British painter David Hockney and former Australian Prime Minister John Howard have been appointed members of the prestigious Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace announced on Sunday.
Mr Howard, 72, served as Australian Prime Minister from 1996 to 2007, and was the country’s second longest serving premier. Australia is one the 15 Commonwealth countries, which still have the British Queen as their monarch.
The Order of Merit, which is restricted to 24 members, is a special honour awarded to individuals of great achievement in the fields of the arts, learning, literature, science and public service by the monarch in the UK.
The past members of the order included writers Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Graham Greene and Ted Hughes and Winston Churchill. The current members of the order include Prince Philip and Prince Charles, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, playwright Tom Stoppard, broadcaster David Attenborough and the inventor of the Internet Tim Berners-Lee.
The Order of Merit, which was founded in 1902 by Edward VII, is a personal gift of the monarch and is rarely bestowed upon foreign recipients. Former South African president Nelson Mandela is the only honorary member at present. From India, only Mother Teresa has been an honorary member. The only other past foreign recipients were German Nobel laureate Dr Albert Schweitzer and former US President Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The Order of Merit members don’t get a title, but instead get a badge from the monarch, which is to be returned after a member’s death.
The members, whose portraits are painted for the royal collection, are hosted by the British monarch once every five years.
The badge is an eight-pointed cross of red and blue enamel surmounted by the imperial crown; in the centre, upon blue enamel and surrounded by a laurel wreath, are the words in gold lettering, “For Merit.”
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