What is a Companion of Honour and who holds the distinction now? From Stephanie Shirley to JK Rowling and David Attenborough
THE elite Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms which was founded in 1917.
The list of Companions of Honour awards those who have contributed to the arts, science, medicine, or government over a long period of time - here's what you need to know about the prestigious accolade.
What is a Companion of Honour?
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms.
It was founded in June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements and is "conferred upon a limited number of persons for whom this special distinction seems to be the most appropriate form of recognition, constituting an honour disassociated either from the acceptance of title or the classification of merit."
Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes regarded as the junior order to the Order of Merit, but is now described as "awarded for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time".
Membership confers no title or precedence, but those inducted into the single-class order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters CH.
The motto of the Companion of Honour is: "In action faithful and in honour clear".
Who holds the distinction now?
The order consists of the Sovereign and a maximum 65 members.
Currently, there are 62 positions filled on the Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour.
The current list of Companions of Honour includes a series of politicians, broadcasters, singers and actors.
Some of the most notable on the list include Sir David Attenborough, Dame Stephanie Shirley, and author JK Rowling.
Dame Stephanie Shirley
Dame Shirley came to the UK as a child refugee in 1944 during World War II, settling with foster parents before re-uniting with her biological parents later on.
In 1959 she founded - with a capital of £6 - software company Freelance Programmers, which later became FI, then Xansa, has since been acquired by Steria and is now part of the Sopra Steria Group.
She wanted to create job opportunities for women and only three male programmers in the first 300 staff until the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made it illegal.
Her team's projects included programming Concorde's black box flight recorder.
Dame Shirley was first appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours for services to industry and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to information technology.
In 2017, Dame Shirley was awarded Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to the IT industry and philanthropy, including The Shirley Foundation which works in the facilitation and support of pioneering projects with autism spectrum disorders.
JK Rowling
British author JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books which spawned a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
JK Rowling famously went from living on benefits to being a multi-millionaire within five years.
In 2016 the Sunday Times Rich List estimated that the author was worth £600million, making her the 197th richest person in the UK.
Although her best-known work is the seven Harry Potter books, which were released between 1997 and 2007, JK Rowling has written a number of novels relating to the series including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists, and a Harry Potter prequel short story that was released in 2008.
Away from Harry Potter, in 2012 JK released adult novel The Casual Vacancy and has also published three novels – the Cormoran Strike series -under the name Robert Galbraith.
On December 12 2017, J.K. Rowling was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, for her services to literature and philanthropy and accepted the award from the Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace.
Of the honour, she said “to be included in the distinguished and diversely talented company of the other Companions of Honour, especially as a female writer, is a particular privilege.”
David Attenborough
Veteran broadcaster David Attenborough was award the Companion of Honour award in 1996 for services to nature broadcasting in the 1996 New Year Honours.
Sir Attenborough, 91, was born on May 8, 1926, in Isleworth, London.
He is best known for presenting the nine Life series – which surveyed animal and plant life on planet earth.
David, who was born in Isleworth, west London, is also known for narrating Wildlife On One (1977 - 2005), and over 50 episodes of Natural World.
He later narrated The Blue Planet (2001), Planet Earth (2006) and Frozen Planet (2011).
He is the only person to have won BAFTAs for programmes in black and white, colour, HD, and 3D.
More recently, he has been narrating BBC One’s first 4K Ultra HD production, Life Story, since October 2014 - as well as Waking Giants.
He also fronted Attenborough And The Sea Dragon, a show all about the remains of an ichthyosaur which was found on the Jurassic Coast.
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The Queen's Green Planet is his latest documentary and will air on April 16, 2018.
The programme focuses on climate change and explores Her Royal Highness' plan to create a global network of protected forests across the Commonwealth.
David’s net worth has been estimated at approximately £24million.
Who else is on the list?
As well as Sir David Attenborough, Dame Stephanie Shirley and JK Rowling, actress Dame Judi Dench, singer Dame Vera Lynn, actor Sir Ian McKellan, actress Dame Maggie Smyth, musician Sir Paul McCartney, chef Delia Smyth and ex-Chancellor George Osborne also hold the award.