Kings Birthday Honours with a Twist

While the essence of Australia’s essentially imperial honours system is largely unnoticed, this year for the first time, there were a number of media comments highlighting the connection of the honours and awards structure to our foreign Head of State. King Charles of England approves the structure and tiers but not the individual awards. (The last-mentioned are decided and announced by the King’s vice-regal representative, the Australian Governor-General supported by an advisory committee.) This was unusual to hear not just once but several times. One article even described King Charles as the “head of the honours system”. Maybe things are slowly starting to change as Australians become more conscious of their binding ties to the United Kingdom? Those ties are more prominent, more questioned with Charles now Australia’s King so the change of sovereign has been positive in that respect. But it’s a very slow chipping away at the veneer of the Australian monarchy.