Radical reforms being considered by royal officials could see the word ‘Empire’ dropped from British honours.
Under the outline plans, those recognised with an OBE – Order of the British Empire – could instead choose to receive an Order of British Excellence. A parallel Order of Elizabeth has also been proposed in remembrance of the late Queen.
In both cases, the traditional, colonial-era titles would be retained for those who wanted to accept them.
Any alteration to the honours system would be down to Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
A newly updated biography of the King, by the Mail’s Robert Hardman, quotes a senior Palace official saying: ‘Any change is a matter for the government, but I think that they would find that this place was pretty open to the idea.’

Posted by ButIDigress79

3 comments

  1. Honestly they should do it asap since labour is in power they would open to this suggestion. Something like this wouldn’t have been possible in Queen’s reign but Charles should do everything possible to drop “Empire” word

  2. I always thought that changing from “Empire” to “Excellence” would be the easiest and most elegant solution for this problem.

  3. I don’t think that they should do this. As recent events show, the more you try to placate the crowd, the more they vie for your blood. The late queen made none of these gestures, and no-one came for her like this. Dismantling parts just begs the question: Why not dismantle the whole? Also, I’ve never understood why some empires are praised (Ottoman, Mali, Persian, Mughal, Inca, Aztec) as a source of deep pride and “underappreciated history “, often by the same people who lambast other empires (eg the British). Slavery? The Ottomans took more slaves than the British.

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