WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.820 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Hello, everyone. 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:06.419 If you're tuning in right now, you are what we 00:00:06.419 --> 00:00:08.439 like to call the learner. Right. The learner. 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.619 You're someone who is, you know, endlessly curious, 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.580 someone who really wants to know how the world 00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:16.699 actually works behind the scenes. Exactly. You 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:18.620 want that deep understanding without without 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:21.320 just drowning in a bunch of disjointed information. 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:25.500 Yeah. And today. Today, we are unpacking a really 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:29.460 intricate, surprisingly dramatic and historically 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:33.460 rich system. We are looking at the UK and Commonwealth 00:00:33.460 --> 00:00:36.320 birthday honors. It's a massive topic. It really 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:38.320 is, because, I mean, when you hear the phrase 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:40.259 birthday honors, it sort of conjures up an image 00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:42.560 of a simple party favor, right? Yeah, like a 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:44.560 monarch handing out a few medals alongside a 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:46.679 slice of cake. Right, exactly. Yeah. But we're 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:48.520 going to explore how this system is actually, 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:51.560 it's a massive engine of national recognition. 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:54.659 A huge bureaucratic machine. We're getting into 00:00:54.659 --> 00:00:58.740 global schedule shifts, pandemic -induced delays, 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.600 and even a pretty fascinating bit of 19th century 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:05.120 political drama. It really is a subject that 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.560 just hides in plain sight. I mean, most people 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:10.969 see the headlines when... You know, a famous 00:01:10.969 --> 00:01:13.430 actor or a prominent scientist gets knighted. 00:01:13.489 --> 00:01:16.030 Oh, yeah. You see the photo ops. Right. But they 00:01:16.030 --> 00:01:18.650 rarely consider the actual machinery operating 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:22.230 beneath that single headline. Yeah. So just to 00:01:22.230 --> 00:01:24.650 set the stage for you, the birthday honors are 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:26.969 a formal system. OK. And they're used across 00:01:26.969 --> 00:01:30.189 several Commonwealth realms to mark the reigning 00:01:30.189 --> 00:01:33.129 monarch's official birthday. Official being the 00:01:33.129 --> 00:01:36.069 key word there. Exactly. And the core function 00:01:36.069 --> 00:01:39.640 of these honors is. granting appointments into 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:43.560 national or dynastic orders or awarding individuals 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:46.099 with specific decorations and medals. And who 00:01:46.099 --> 00:01:48.200 actually hands these out? Well, they're presented 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:51.700 either by the monarch directly or by a vice regal 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:53.359 representative. Which is that's like a governor 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:55.140 general, right? Yeah. Essentially someone who 00:01:55.140 --> 00:01:57.859 acts as the monarch's official proxy in a different 00:01:57.859 --> 00:01:59.959 country. Got it. So this whole thing operates 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:02.079 alongside the New Year honor. Yes. Those are 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:04.299 the two major ones. Together, they form the two 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:06.799 major annual lists published in the Official 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:10.460 Gazette. And actually, just to clarify for anyone 00:02:10.460 --> 00:02:12.620 who might be unfamiliar with the term, the Official 00:02:12.620 --> 00:02:14.800 Gazette isn't just a regular newspaper you pick 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:16.719 up at the corner store. No, definitely not. Definitely 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:18.780 not. It is the government's official journal 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:21.879 of record. If an appointment or a new law isn't 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:25.000 published there legally and officially, it basically 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.379 hasn't happened. That distinction is so crucial. 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:30.979 Publication in the Gazette transforms what is 00:02:30.979 --> 00:02:34.460 essentially a private royal nod into a matter 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:37.240 of permanent public and historical record. Right. 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:40.740 In this system, it stretches far beyond the borders 00:02:40.740 --> 00:02:43.680 of just the United Kingdom. It extends across 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.360 multiple sovereign nations within the Commonwealth. 00:02:47.500 --> 00:02:49.819 So it's a highly structured, highly visible. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.060 public mechanism for rewarding citizens. Exactly. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.659 I like to think of it less like a massive corporate 00:02:55.659 --> 00:02:59.039 employee of the month badge and more like a nation's 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.500 living DNA sequence. Oh, that's a great way to 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:03.560 put it. Yeah, because every time the geopolitical 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.460 climate shifts or monarch ages or prime minister 00:03:06.460 --> 00:03:09.280 resigns, a whole new sequence of medals is coded 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.659 into the public record. It leaves a permanent 00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:14.379 trace. It really does. And one of the most fascinating 00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:18.139 aspects of this system early on in the sources 00:03:18.139 --> 00:03:22.210 is this fundamental concept of the official birthday. 00:03:22.409 --> 00:03:24.729 Because the calendar dates for the celebration, 00:03:25.030 --> 00:03:28.689 they constantly shift. They do. The concept of 00:03:28.689 --> 00:03:30.949 the official birthday is honestly an ingenious, 00:03:30.949 --> 00:03:33.610 if slightly surreal, bureaucratic tool. Right. 00:03:33.689 --> 00:03:35.789 Surreal is the word. Because the date of the 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:38.580 actual human being's birth. the monarch's real 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:41.139 birthday, and the date of the official celebration 00:03:41.139 --> 00:03:44.300 are frequently completely detached from one another. 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:46.539 Which the historical ledgers show so clearly. 00:03:46.819 --> 00:03:49.319 I mean, Queen Victoria had been reliably issuing 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:51.979 these honors for decades. But then we get to 00:03:51.979 --> 00:03:54.580 King Edward VII. Right. His first birthday as 00:03:54.580 --> 00:03:57.979 king was celebrated on November 9, 1901. But 00:03:57.979 --> 00:03:59.900 then as you move through the 20th century, the 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:02.199 rules just shift entirely. They realized they 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:04.099 needed a better system. Yeah. Fast forward to 00:04:04.099 --> 00:04:07.389 1959. And the United Kingdom officially moved 00:04:07.389 --> 00:04:09.930 the monarch's birthday celebration to a Saturday 00:04:09.930 --> 00:04:12.550 in early June. They essentially decoupled the 00:04:12.550 --> 00:04:15.090 celebration from the monarch's actual birth date. 00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:17.149 Just permanently pinned it to a more convenient 00:04:17.149 --> 00:04:19.449 weekend, probably for better weather. Mostly 00:04:19.449 --> 00:04:22.990 for the weather, yes. But that 1959 shift is 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:25.290 just the timeline for the United Kingdom. Right, 00:04:25.329 --> 00:04:27.170 there's a whole world out there. If we look at 00:04:27.170 --> 00:04:29.870 how this operates globally, the logistical complexity 00:04:29.870 --> 00:04:32.730 multiplies significantly. Bids is not just the 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:35.459 UK. Exactly. Other Commonwealth realms, places 00:04:35.459 --> 00:04:38.500 like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ceylon, 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:42.819 and India, they all have their own deep... historical 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:45.699 lists of honors tied to this exact tradition. 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:48.160 And they celebrate the monarch's official birthday 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.819 on completely different dates. Wait, really? 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:53.279 So if the dates are completely decoupled, depending 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:56.060 on the country, does that mean the entire bureaucratic 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:59.720 machine of vetting candidates, printing gazettes, 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:02.220 and preparing medals is just staggered across 00:05:02.220 --> 00:05:04.540 the globe throughout the year? It is entirely 00:05:04.540 --> 00:05:07.000 staggered. Wow. Generally, these celebrations 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:11.459 do fall in late May or early June. But different 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:13.740 sovereign nations under the same monarch are 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:16.399 orchestrating this massive administrative rollout 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.699 on their own distinct timelines. I just want 00:05:18.699 --> 00:05:21.199 you, the listener, to pause and imagine that 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:24.100 for a second. Imagine trying to coordinate a 00:05:24.100 --> 00:05:27.279 single overarching tradition across that many 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:29.600 different time zones. Without the Internet. Yes. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.300 Across entirely different sovereign governments, 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:35.199 well before the era of digital communication 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:38.000 or instant messaging. It's unbelievable. The 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:40.699 sheer volume of paperwork, the diplomatic cables, 00:05:40.980 --> 00:05:43.600 the physical ledgers required to keep Ceylon, 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:48.480 Canada, Australia, and the UK aligned on a shared 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.699 royal tradition. It's just a staggering feat 00:05:51.699 --> 00:05:53.699 of administration. Which is exactly what makes 00:05:53.699 --> 00:05:55.600 it all the more notable when the machinery completely 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.019 breaks down. Oh yes, here is where it gets really 00:05:58.019 --> 00:06:00.759 interesting. A system this grand, with this much 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:02.959 bureaucratic inertia, is expected to run like 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:05.279 clockwork. But if we go back to the archives, 00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:08.079 there is a massive disruption right in the middle 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:11.560 of Queen Victoria's reign. Picture the year 1876. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:14.220 Right. By this point, Queen Victoria had been 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:17.639 reliably issuing these honors for over 15 years. 00:06:17.939 --> 00:06:21.019 The public, the military, the government, everyone 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:23.560 expected the list. It was a given. But... In 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:27.040 1876, the official Gazette was published, and 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:29.160 the birthday honors list was simply missing. 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:31.720 Not delayed. Not delayed, it just wasn't there. 00:06:31.899 --> 00:06:34.699 And the reaction from the Arrow was severe. A 00:06:34.699 --> 00:06:36.860 prominent newspaper from the time, the Broad 00:06:36.860 --> 00:06:40.180 Arrow, published a really lengthy, scathing article 00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:42.759 about the omission. They did not hold back. No, 00:06:42.779 --> 00:06:44.939 they noted a good deal of disappointment sweeping 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:47.660 through the public and the military ranks. But 00:06:47.660 --> 00:06:50.240 what is truly remarkable is where they actually 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.759 directed their heavy rebuke. Right, they didn't 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:55.699 blame the queen. They largely forgave Queen Victoria 00:06:55.699 --> 00:06:58.500 and instead aimed their fury directly at the 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:01.180 Ministry of Defense. The Broad Arrow specifically 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:04.680 targeted the war minister, a man named Gathorne 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.959 Hardy. Poor Gathorne Hardy. Seriously. They publicly 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:11.199 dragged him for neglecting to award worthy soldiers 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.540 with the Order of the Bath. And we should provide 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:15.620 some context there. The Order of the Bath is 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:17.819 one of the highest and oldest orders of chivalry 00:07:17.819 --> 00:07:20.060 for military and civil service. So for a war 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:23.470 minister, to drop the ball on this specific honor. 00:07:23.589 --> 00:07:26.709 It's a massive public slight to the armed forces. 00:07:26.990 --> 00:07:30.750 Exactly. The paper explicitly stated that the 00:07:30.750 --> 00:07:33.670 war minister holds all general patronage of this 00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:36.670 description. And if Mr. Hardy neglected to follow 00:07:36.670 --> 00:07:39.949 in the beaten track of his predecessors, he alone 00:07:39.949 --> 00:07:43.209 was to blame. It is a phenomenal public reprimand. 00:07:43.290 --> 00:07:45.629 It highlights a massive assumption of the era. 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:48.360 The monarch might be the technical fount of honor, 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:51.040 but the elected government, specifically the 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:54.100 war minister, was expected to do all the administrative 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:55.959 heavy lifting. The selecting and recommending 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:58.629 of candidates. Right. But the story takes a really 00:07:58.629 --> 00:08:01.209 sharp turn here because Queen Victoria did not 00:08:01.209 --> 00:08:04.129 simply accept this bureaucratic failure from 00:08:04.129 --> 00:08:06.930 her government. She basically executed a massive 00:08:06.930 --> 00:08:09.569 royal workaround. She did. If her government 00:08:09.569 --> 00:08:11.769 wasn't going to issue the official birthday honors 00:08:11.769 --> 00:08:15.069 list, she decided to just bypass them and issue 00:08:15.069 --> 00:08:17.769 her own personal honors. She took direct unilateral 00:08:17.769 --> 00:08:20.050 action. She appointed the Prince of Wales and 00:08:20.050 --> 00:08:21.949 the Duke of Connaught to be her personal aides 00:08:21.949 --> 00:08:23.709 -de -camp. And an aide -de -camp is a senior 00:08:23.709 --> 00:08:26.310 personal assistant or secretary to a person of 00:08:26.310 --> 00:08:29.310 high rank. Correct. In a military context, being 00:08:29.310 --> 00:08:32.029 an aide -de -camp to the queen provides a direct, 00:08:32.190 --> 00:08:34.730 highly visible line of prestige and proximity 00:08:34.730 --> 00:08:37.590 to the sovereign. It completely bypasses standard 00:08:37.590 --> 00:08:40.090 military promotions. Exactly. But she didn't 00:08:40.090 --> 00:08:42.750 stop there. No, she kept going. She also made 00:08:42.750 --> 00:08:45.750 the ailing King George of Hanover a general in 00:08:45.750 --> 00:08:47.830 the British Army. Which is quite the statement. 00:08:47.909 --> 00:08:50.470 She just handed out high -level military titles 00:08:50.470 --> 00:08:52.370 and personal appointments completely outside 00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:55.149 the standard Ministry of Defense channels. This 00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:59.429 specific incident from 1876 is crucial for understanding 00:08:59.429 --> 00:09:02.269 the entire system. It really is. It perfectly 00:09:02.269 --> 00:09:04.909 illustrates the historical tension and the delicate 00:09:04.909 --> 00:09:07.769 balance of power between the sovereign and the 00:09:07.769 --> 00:09:10.509 elected government. A quiet tug of war. Exactly. 00:09:10.509 --> 00:09:13.409 Over who actually gets to dispense patronage 00:09:13.409 --> 00:09:15.870 and reward loyalty. It shows us that the honor 00:09:15.870 --> 00:09:18.450 system is not just a passive list of names. It 00:09:18.450 --> 00:09:21.450 is a highly active political tool. Right. When 00:09:21.450 --> 00:09:24.500 the war minister failed to act. The queen wielded 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:26.940 her inherent authority to ensure loyalty was 00:09:26.940 --> 00:09:29.279 still rewarded. Reminding the government of where 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:31.299 the ultimate power of recognition technically 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:34.779 lay. That adaptability, the way the system flexes 00:09:34.779 --> 00:09:37.360 and changes based on the circumstances, brings 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:39.580 up another huge aspect of the birthday honors. 00:09:40.090 --> 00:09:42.590 They aren't just issued blindly come rain or 00:09:42.590 --> 00:09:45.049 shine. No, there are built -in exceptions and 00:09:45.049 --> 00:09:47.830 disruptions. The historical ledgers show several 00:09:47.830 --> 00:09:50.429 years where the birthday honors simply do not 00:09:50.429 --> 00:09:52.710 exist. But they weren't skipped out of negligence 00:09:52.710 --> 00:09:54.769 or political squabbling like in the Gathorne 00:09:54.769 --> 00:09:57.190 Hardys situation. Right, they were skipped because 00:09:57.190 --> 00:09:59.830 they clashed with other massive royal milestones. 00:10:00.269 --> 00:10:03.389 Because if the nation is already throwing a massive 00:10:03.389 --> 00:10:05.809 historically significant celebration for the 00:10:05.809 --> 00:10:08.750 monarch, a secondary birthday list competing 00:10:08.750 --> 00:10:11.759 for a ten - in the Gazette just creates bureaucratic 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:14.539 noise. It muddles the message. Precisely. The 00:10:14.539 --> 00:10:16.799 records explicitly note that birthday honors 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:19.620 were not issued when they coincided with Jubilee 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:21.820 honors. Like Queen Victoria's Jubilees. Right. 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:24.159 We see this during her Golden Jubilee in 1887 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:28.659 and her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The entire apparatus 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:31.200 of national recognition pivoted to the Jubilee. 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:33.559 And coronations trigger the exact same pause. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:38.200 They do. The records list 1911, 1937 and 1953 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:41.460 as years where the birthday honors were completely 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:44.519 replaced by coronation honors. The machinery 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:46.879 just absorbs the birthday into the larger constitutional 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.080 event. But it is not only celebratory events 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.019 that disrupt the system. Sometimes external global 00:10:52.019 --> 00:10:55.120 crises force the machinery to halt entirely. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:57.539 Which brings our timeline rushing right up into 00:10:57.539 --> 00:10:59.480 the modern era. Yes. We don't just have to look 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:01.559 back to the 19th century or the mid 20th century 00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:04.679 to see this system get upended. In 2020, the 00:11:04.679 --> 00:11:07.159 British honors faced an unprecedented delay. 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:10.070 Right. Because of the severe impact of the COVID 00:11:10.070 --> 00:11:13.009 -19 pandemic, the 2020 Queen's birthday honors 00:11:13.009 --> 00:11:15.990 list was entirely postponed until the autumn 00:11:15.990 --> 00:11:19.009 of that year. Which tells us so much. The honor 00:11:19.009 --> 00:11:21.429 system serves as a direct mirror to history. 00:11:21.730 --> 00:11:24.169 It really does. When the nation is entirely consumed 00:11:24.169 --> 00:11:26.730 by a monumental event, whether that is a rare 00:11:26.730 --> 00:11:28.870 jubilee, the coronation of a new monarch, or 00:11:28.870 --> 00:11:32.009 a devastating global pandemic, the standard bureaucratic 00:11:32.009 --> 00:11:34.529 machine literally pauses to reflect the reality 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:36.850 of the times. It cannot ignore the world around 00:11:36.850 --> 00:11:40.649 it. Exactly. The empty spaces in the honors lists 00:11:40.649 --> 00:11:43.490 or the delayed publications tell us just as much 00:11:43.490 --> 00:11:45.750 about the state of the nation as the lists themselves. 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:48.090 And that brings us to the sheer scale of the 00:11:48.090 --> 00:11:50.309 system today. Because when you look at the full 00:11:50.309 --> 00:11:53.210 taxonomy of honors in the source material, it 00:11:53.210 --> 00:11:56.250 is a dizzying array of categories. It's massive. 00:11:56.549 --> 00:11:58.629 We've been focusing on birthdays and New Years, 00:11:58.789 --> 00:12:01.750 which are the main annual events. But the ecosystem 00:12:01.750 --> 00:12:05.299 of awards goes so much deeper. and gets highly 00:12:05.299 --> 00:12:08.259 specific. Beyond the annual calendar, the honor 00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:10.620 system is deeply intertwined with the structural 00:12:10.620 --> 00:12:13.080 transitions of power within the government itself. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.679 The political lists. Yes, there are political 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:18.480 lists explicitly built into this framework. For 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.620 instance, there are dissolution honors, which 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:22.840 are issued when Parliament is officially dissolved 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:24.919 ahead of a general election. And then there are 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:27.460 the prime minister's resignation honors. A very 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:29.980 significant category. The historical record provides 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:32.909 a massive timeline for these. The tradition of 00:12:32.909 --> 00:12:34.950 a departing prime minister issuing a resignation 00:12:34.950 --> 00:12:38.549 honors list starts way back in 1895. It goes 00:12:38.549 --> 00:12:41.389 back a long way. And it stretches all the way 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:43.269 through the 20th century right up to the modern 00:12:43.269 --> 00:12:46.820 day. We see lists issued for both Boris Johnson 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:50.440 and Liz Truss in 2022. And it is important to 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:52.600 view this mechanism impartially as we look at 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:54.980 the history. Absolutely. Regardless of the political 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:57.519 climate or the popularity of the departing leader, 00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:00.399 the prime minister's resignation honors list 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:04.350 is a standard, longstanding mechanism. It's a 00:13:04.350 --> 00:13:06.629 formalized tradition. It allows departing political 00:13:06.629 --> 00:13:10.169 leaders to formally recognize their staff, their 00:13:10.169 --> 00:13:12.970 political allies, and the public servants who 00:13:12.970 --> 00:13:16.269 assisted their administration. It is a formalized, 00:13:16.309 --> 00:13:18.750 expected part of the transition of power in the 00:13:18.750 --> 00:13:21.710 UK. But the system also marks transitions on 00:13:21.710 --> 00:13:24.409 the royal side, specifically marking the end 00:13:24.409 --> 00:13:27.190 of an era with a very different tone. Yes, there 00:13:27.190 --> 00:13:30.000 is a category known as demise honors. Wait, so 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.399 even in death there's a list? Precisely. These 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:34.779 are lists specifically formulated to mark the 00:13:34.779 --> 00:13:37.320 passing of major royal figures. They serve as 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:39.460 a way of settling the affairs of a royal household. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.679 Okay, that makes sense. It's about officially 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.759 rewarding the staff, the advisors, and the loyal 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:47.320 retainers who served the departed royal, often 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:50.340 for decades. The records specifically point out 00:13:50.340 --> 00:13:53.100 demise honors being issued for the Queen Mother 00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:56.299 and Princess Margaret in 2002. Yes. And for Prince 00:13:56.299 --> 00:13:59.600 Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. in 2021, and most 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:03.080 recently for Queen Elizabeth II in 2023. It is 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.159 incredibly poignant when you really think about 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:07.840 it. It is. The machinery that spends decades 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.320 celebrating their official birthdays in life 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.960 is the exact same machinery that issues a final 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.279 concluding list of honors upon their demise. 00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:18.899 It provides a profound sense of bureaucratic 00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:22.080 closure to a historical era. A final ledger entry. 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:25.259 Exactly. And beyond the realms of life, death, 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.940 and political transitions, there is a whole host 00:14:27.940 --> 00:14:30.200 of other special categories that truly illustrate 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:32.320 the breadth of the system. There is an entire 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.279 infrastructure for very specific human achievements 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:37.700 and events. Yes, like the Bravery Awards and 00:14:37.700 --> 00:14:39.919 Gallantry Awards. Which have their own massive 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:42.039 historical ledgers documenting extraordinary 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:44.679 acts by citizens and soldiers alike. There are 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:47.080 also Royal Visit Honors. What are those exactly? 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:49.480 They are granted to mark a significant royal 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:52.669 tour to a Commonwealth nation. New Zealand, for 00:14:52.669 --> 00:14:55.710 example, has records of royal visit honors dating 00:14:55.710 --> 00:14:58.950 all the way back to 1901. That's fascinating. 00:14:59.210 --> 00:15:02.210 And there are highly specific commemorative medals, 00:15:02.389 --> 00:15:05.350 too. Yes, those are very unique. A great example 00:15:05.350 --> 00:15:07.850 from the historical record is the New Zealand 00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:10.990 Suffrage Centennial Medal. That was issued in 00:15:10.990 --> 00:15:14.330 1993 to mark a major milestone in civil rights 00:15:14.330 --> 00:15:16.549 history. That's a great example. Rather than 00:15:16.549 --> 00:15:19.429 just a general honor, it is a bespoke medal. 00:15:19.820 --> 00:15:22.659 minted for a specific national reflection. If 00:15:22.659 --> 00:15:25.039 we step back and look at this vast ecosystem 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.639 from the delayed pandemic lists to the demise 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:31.299 honors to medals for political staff and centennial 00:15:31.299 --> 00:15:33.480 suffrage celebrations, it shows us something 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:35.679 important. That the system is adaptable. Yes, 00:15:35.740 --> 00:15:38.399 that the honor system is far more than just a 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.320 ceremonial relic. It is a comprehensive historical 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:44.460 ledger. Every major transition of power, every 00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:47.299 national tragedy. Every recognized act of heroism 00:15:47.299 --> 00:15:49.740 and every significant political. shift leaves 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:52.440 a tangible paper trail of medals, titles, and 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:54.860 gazette entries. It is the history of a nation 00:15:54.860 --> 00:15:58.100 and a commonwealth written in the form of bureaucratic 00:15:58.100 --> 00:16:01.039 recognition. Very well said. We have taken quite 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.279 a journey today. We really have covered a lot 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.919 of ground. We started with the basic mechanics 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.980 of how an official birthday can be shifted from 00:16:08.980 --> 00:16:12.639 November to June just for logistical ease. And 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:15.269 better weather. And better weather. We explored 00:16:15.269 --> 00:16:18.110 Queen Victoria completely bypassing her own war 00:16:18.110 --> 00:16:21.110 minister with rogue military appointments back 00:16:21.110 --> 00:16:24.889 in 1876. A great moment in bureaucratic history. 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:28.649 We've seen how global events like jubilees, coronations, 00:16:28.649 --> 00:16:31.649 and modern pandemics force the entire system 00:16:31.649 --> 00:16:35.009 to adapt and pause. And we've mapped out the 00:16:35.009 --> 00:16:38.690 vast, intricate ecosystem of political and royal 00:16:38.690 --> 00:16:41.190 awards that govern the transitions of power. 00:16:41.610 --> 00:16:43.889 It really is a remarkable framework to analyze. 00:16:43.990 --> 00:16:46.389 It takes these abstract concepts like loyalty, 00:16:46.549 --> 00:16:48.990 service, and historical transition, and it turns 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:51.190 them into physical metals and permanent public 00:16:51.190 --> 00:16:53.710 records. And for you listening, here's why this 00:16:53.710 --> 00:16:56.149 deeply matters. The next time you're reading 00:16:56.149 --> 00:16:58.649 the news and you see a newly minted Sir Ordain 00:16:58.649 --> 00:17:00.809 being celebrated, you aren't just looking at 00:17:00.809 --> 00:17:03.149 a fancy title anymore. No, you're seeing the 00:17:03.149 --> 00:17:06.410 end result of a very long process. You now understand. 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:09.880 The massive centuries old bureaucratic and historical 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:12.920 machinery working tirelessly behind the scenes 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:15.579 across multiple continents to make that single 00:17:15.579 --> 00:17:18.000 moment happen. But as we conclude, it is worth 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.119 considering a broader implication. Absolutely. 00:17:20.200 --> 00:17:23.460 We have spent all this time looking at how prime 00:17:23.460 --> 00:17:26.380 ministers and monarchs use this system from the 00:17:26.380 --> 00:17:28.740 top down. Right. Rewarding military service, 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.960 political allies and royal retainers. But with 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:34.380 the sheer volume of political honors we discussed, 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:37.180 like dissolution and Prime Minister's resignation 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:40.140 lists, it raises a fascinating question for the 00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:42.619 future. What's that? As we move deeper into the 00:17:42.619 --> 00:17:45.640 21st century, will the story of a nation's elite 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:48.319 be defined more by the timeless traditions of 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.420 the crown or by the rapidly changing tides of 00:17:51.420 --> 00:17:55.339 departing political leaders? Wow. That is a phenomenal 00:17:55.339 --> 00:17:58.420 question to leave off on. As society evolves, 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:01.140 so too must the ledgers that record its greatest 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:03.500 achievements. Thank you so much for joining us 00:18:03.500 --> 00:18:05.119 on this deep dive today. We hope we've given 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:07.339 you some incredible insights to mull over. Keep 00:18:07.339 --> 00:18:09.339 asking questions, keep looking past the surface, 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:11.720 and keep your curiosity alive until next time.