Royal Victorian Order

Royal Victorian Order
Breast Star of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Awarded by the monarch of the United Kingdom (foundation – 1931) the monarch of the United Kingdom and the Dominions (1931–1952) the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (since 1952) Award of
Type	Dynastic order
Motto	VICTORIA
Day	20 June
Eligibility	All living citizens of the Commonwealth realms
Awarded for	Personal service to the sovereign.
Status	Currently constituted
First Sovereign	Queen Victoria
Sovereign	Elizabeth II
Grand Master	Anne, Princess Royal
Chancellor	The Earl Peel
Grades	Knight/Dame Grand Cross (GCVO) Knight/Dame Commander (KCVO/DCVO) Commander (CVO) Lieutenant (LVO) Member (MVO)
Statistics
Established	21 April 1896
Precedence
Next (higher)	Dependent on state
Next (lower)	Dependent on state
Ribbon of an ordinary member of the order Ribbon of an honorary member of the order

The Royal Victorian Order (French: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch of the Commonwealth realms, members of the monarch's family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the monarch. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Sovereign of the order, its motto is Victoria, and its official day is 20 June. The order's chapel is the Savoy Chapel in London.

There are no limits on the number honoured, and admission remains the personal gift of the monarch, with each of the order's five grades and one medal with three levels representing different levels of service. While all those honoured may use the prescribed styles of the order—the top two grades grant titles of knighthood, and all grades accord distinct post-nominal letters—the Royal Victorian Order's precedence amongst other honours differs from realm to realm and admission to some grades may be barred to citizens of those realms by government policy.

Prior to the close of the 19th century, most general honours within the British Empire were bestowed by the sovereign on the advice of her British ministers, who sometimes forwarded advice from ministers of the Crown in the Dominions and colonies (appointments to the then most senior orders of chivalry—the Most Noble Order of the Garter and the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle—had been made on ministerial advice since the 18th century and were not restored to the personal gift of the sovereign until 1946 and 1947, respectively). Queen Victoria thus established on 21 April 1896 the Royal Victorian Order as a junior and personal order of knighthood that allowed her to bestow directly to an empire-wide community honours for personal services. The organisation was founded a year preceding Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, so as to give the Queen time to complete a list of first inductees. The order's official day was made 20 June of each year, marking the anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne.