How does one become Knighted?

Question

How would I become knighted. I know the categories, but I wanna know who to contact etc.

Answer 1

Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. Knighthood is a non-heritable (with a few rare exceptions) form of gentility, but not of nobility. In the High and Late Middle Ages, the principal duty of a knight was to fight as, and lead, heavy cavalry (see serjeanty); more recently, knighthood has become a symbolic title of honour given to a more diverse class of people, from mountain climber Edmund Hillary to musician Paul McCartney. By extension, "knight" is also used as a translation of the names of other honourable estates connected with horsemanship, especially from classical antiquity.

The history of knighthood involves, therefore, the history of the social institution, which began somewhat differently in the various European regions; the history of the word, and the corresponding terms in French and Latin; and the history of the technology which made heavy cavalry possible.

Knighthood is designated by the title Sir (e.g. Sir Elton John) or Dame (e.g. Dame Judi Dench) within the Commonwealth of Nations. The French title "Chevalier" or the German "Ritter" are usually used in Continental Europe. Outside the Commonwealth, the title is respected but may carry less gravitas, and thus may or may not appear, for example, in the mass media and other publications. There are technically differing levels of knighthood (see Order of the British Empire), but in practice these are even more symbolic than the title itself today and thus only express the greatness of the recipient's achievements in the eyes of the Crown.

Answer 2

The Page - Squire - Knight thing works in story books, but not in real life (with the possible exception of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem). Any British subject can be knighted, normally for service to the country in some particular area. This could include politics, the military, business, or the arts. Thus, it generally happens later in life, after a lifetime of exemplary service. Examples like this would be Sir Sean Connery (acting), 2 of the Beatles (music), and so on. In ancient times, a knight was basically a mercenary - a hired "gun," (sword in this case), retained to perform the service owed by a feudal vassal to his overlord, or the King. Typically, a vassal might owe 30 days per year service, and rather than doing it himself, risking death, he would hire and outfit a "knight" do do his service for him. Eventually, this became an honourable profession, although knights were on their way out as a fighting force by the time this happened. It turns out that bullets can go through armour! The times you are talking about, the 1300's, would have been the mercenary period. The Chivalrous knight having to qualify came somewhat later.

Answer 3

Sonyack is wrong, Americans like Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr and Norman Schwartzkopf all received honorary knighthoods. They simply cannot use the title 'Sir'. As for you, you cannot nominate yourself for an honour, and giving money to a political party so as to receive an honour is illegal. You will have to either perform some illustrious public service over many years and hope you get noticed, or have the right connections, make a lot of money, etc. So many are given out these days to people simply for doing their jobs. All these fat cats getting knightghoods for 'services to industry' - they went into business to make a lot of money, and have succeeded. That should be their reward. Proportionately, there are more knighthoods given out in the armed services and civil service than most lines of work, so a successful career in either of those would help a lot.

Answer 4

You give a big donation to the labour party - this is very effective.

However if you want a hereditory peerage you will have to marry into it. Generally this is harder for a man than
a woman because of the antiquated rules of titular inheritance.

Oh the other way if you just want a title - there are some websites that specialise in this - there are various properties in the UK that come with titles attached to them - they aren't in debrettes so won't get you into Ascot but will give you a title. Also there are some spare titles that get sold - if thats really what you want to spend your money on. Or you could just by a little scottish island and declare yourself king of it!

Answer 5

Becoming a Knight | Chivalry

Medieval Squires had to learn the code of chivalry that applied to all squires hoping to become a knight; this was basically rules the Medieval Knights had to follow and involved morality teachings, codes of acceptable conduct that knights had to display towards people especially women and strict rules they had to obey.

Answer 6

You need to achieve something special and out of the ordianry, like save a life, win an award, or be famous. Then, the Queen of England must knight you, whic is the hard part.

Answer 7

You need to do something awesome, like be a rock star or something to be knighted now.

You should contact the King from Burger King. I am sure he could Knight you for eating lots of burgers or something you tater.

Answer 8

A US citizen is forbidden by the Constitution from accepting titles. If you do, you're outta here.

Knighthoods are granted by the Queen of England, and only to people who have significantly contributed to the general benefit of the kingdom over a long period of time. She gets a list of candidates - I guess also that the PM and others hash things over beforehand.

Answer 9

If you're a Jew, and you give generously to the right political campaigns, the Queen might advance you all the way to the peerage and the PM will give you a seat in the House of Lords. But you have to be a Jew. Being an Englishman doesn't cut the mustard anymore.

Answer 10

Nowadays, extraordinary acts of valour aren't necessary for knighthood; all you need be is a rock star or actor who's past his prime.