The Imperial Order of the Crown of India is an order in the British honours system. The Order was established by Queen Victoria when she became Empress of India in 1878.[1] The Order was open only to women, and no appointments have been made since the Partition of India in 1947. The Order was limited to British princesses, wives or female relatives of Indian princes (female rulers like the Nawab Begums of Bhopal counted as such) and the wife or female relatives of any person who held the office of:
Quick Facts Imperial Order of the Crown of India, Awarded by the British monarch ...
Imperial Order of the Crown of India
The insignia of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India
Awarded by the British monarch
Type
Order of Chivalry
Eligibility
British princesses, wives or female relatives of Indian princes
Status
Last appointment in 1947 Dormant order since 2022
Post-nominals
CI
Ribbon of the order
Close
The Order of the Crown of India was established by Queen Victoria in 1878 as a companion order to the Order of Victoria and Albert. The order was intended to recognize women associated with India regardless of their social statuses. In practice, the Order of the Crown of India was mostly conferred on royalty, wives of peers, wives of members of India's ruling classes and wives of civil servants stationed in India. It is one of the few honors which was reserved for women only, such as the Royal Red Cross, Order of Victoria and Albert and the Royal Family Order.
Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess Elizabeth, and her sister, Princess Margaret, were appointed to the Order by their father, King George VI, in June 1947, before the British Raj was dissolved three months later, making them among the last women to be presented with the Order. By the late 20th century there were only four living recipients – Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, who was the last ordinary member at the time of her death in 2004.
With the death of the last surviving holder, Queen Elizabeth II, the last active imperial Indian order became dormant in 2022.
This section does not cite any sources. (November 2021)
Badge of the order
The members of the Order could use the post-nominal letters "CI", but did not acquire any special precedence or status due to it. Furthermore, they were entitled to wear the badge of the Order, which included Queen Victoria's Imperial Cypher, VRI (Victoria Regina Imperatrix). The letters were set in diamonds, pearls, and turquoises, and were together surrounded by a border of pearls surmounted by a figure of the Imperial Crown. The badge was worn and attached to a light blue bow, edged in white, on the left shoulder.
Elizabeth II, in her uniform as Colonel-in-Chief of the Scots Guards, wears the badge of the order as a medal (first on left). (Trooping the Colour, 1986)
1895: Victoria Spencer, Lady Sandhurst (wife of William Mansfield, 1st Baron Sandhurst, later Viscount Sandhurst, Governor of the Presidency of Bombay, 1895–1900)
1895: Lady George Hamilton (wife of Lord George Hamilton, Secretary of State for India, 1895–1903)
"No. 37325". The London Gazette. 26 October 1945. p.5237. In recognition of her work for Indian service men and Indian seamen as Chairman of the Indian Comforts Fund.
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