Wearing The Order
The Royal Family Orders are worn pinned to the left shoulder at formal evening occasions when other orders and decorations are worn. If a sash is worn also over the left shoulder, the order is pinned to the sash. If more than one Royal Family Order is worn, they are layered, with the most recent always on top.
More than one Royal Family Order may be worn. The Queen herself wears the Family Orders of her father King George VI and her grandfather King George V; for obvious reasons she does not wear her own. Princess Alexandra has those of King George VI and The Queen. Those who wear that of The Queen only are The Princess Royal, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Countess of Wessex, The Duchess of Gloucester, and The Duchess of Kent.
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, wore those of King George V, King George VI, and The Queen. Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, also wore those of King George V, King George VI and The Queen. Princess Margaret wore the same as her mother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone wore those of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI and The Queen. In addition she also wore The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert - one of only 2 women, the other being Queen Mary, who was a member of 5 British Royal Family orders at the same time. Diana, Princess of Wales wore that of The Queen only.
It is notable that marriage into the Royal Family does not automatically bestow the Order. Although Diana, Princess of Wales was known to have received the Order (and, more recently, the Countess of Wessex and the Duchess of Cornwall were pictured wearing it), neither Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Michael of Kent or Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge have ever been seen to hold the order- although the latter has never attended any event in which the Order would be worn. As well, biological relation to the Monarch does not automatically bestow the Order either. None of the current monarch's granddaughters have been seen to hold the order.
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