Tag Archives: Queen Elizabethe

Geim and Novoselov, knights of the realm

The Jan. 2, 2012 news item on Nanowerk alerted me to the news about Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov and their knighthoods. Here’s more from the Dec. 30, 2011 item on the BBC News websitewhere the news originated,

Two Nobel laureates involved in the creation of graphene, a sheet of carbon just one atom thick, have received knighthoods in the New Year Honours.

Profs Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, from the University of Manchester, won the physics Nobel Prize in 2010 for their pioneering research.

Recipients from technology and science sectors make up 3% of this year’s list.

I wrote about Geim and Novoselov’s work (and their Nobel prizes) in my Oct. 7, 2010 posting, which also features a video of a levitating frog (one of Geim’s favourite science stunts) and my Nov. 26, 2010 posting features a video demonstrating how you can make your own graphene sheets using the same technique that Novoselov and Geim used.

As for the knighthoods, anyone being knighted can henceforth be referred to as ‘Sir’, unless they are females who technically speaking can’t be knighted but can be honoured with the title of  Dame. Apparently there is a ceremony and here’s more about that from the Wikipedia essay on Orders, decorations, and medals of the UK [links removed from this excerpt],

Each year, around 2,600 people receive their awards personally from The Queen or a member of the Royal Family. Approximately 22 investitures are held annually in Buckingham Palace, one or two at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and one in Cardiff. There are approximately 120 recipients at each Investiture. The Queen usually conducts the investitures, although the Prince of Wales and The Princess Royal also hold some investitures on behalf of the Queen.

During the ceremony, the Queen enters the ballroom of Buckingham Palace attended by two Gurkha orderly officers, a tradition begun in 1876 by Queen Victoria. On duty on the dais are five members of the Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, which was created in 1485 by Henry VII; they are the oldest military corps in the United Kingdom. Four gentlemen ushers are on duty to help look after the recipients and their guests.

The Queen is escorted by either the Lord Chamberlain or the Lord Steward. After the National Anthem has been played, he stands to the right of the Queen and announces the name of each recipient and the achievement for which they are being decorated. The Queen is provided with a brief background for each recipient by her equerry as they approach to receive their award.

Those who are to be knighted kneel on an investiture stool to receive the accolade, which is bestowed by the Queen using the sword which her father, George VI used when, as Duke of York, he was Colonel of the Scots Guards. Occasionally an award for gallantry may be made posthumously and in this case the Queen presents the decoration or medal to the recipient’s next-of-kin in private before the public investiture begins.

After the award ceremony, those honoured are ushered out of the Ballroom into the Inner Quadrangle of Buckingham Palace, where the Royal Rota of Photographers are stationed. Here recipients are photographed with their awards. In some cases, members of the press may interview some of the more well-known people who have received honours.

Apparently some folks do decline the honour but it is a small percentage.