Degradation is the formal term for removal of aknighthood or other honour. Modern degradation is an administrative process without public ceremony. Historically, degradation as a result of the most severe misdeeds — especially treason — was done in a public ceremony, at which the person’s spurs were broken, belt cut and sword broken over their head.
The last knight to be publicly degraded wasSir Francis Mitchell in 1621.[1][2] Recent examples of degradation includeSir Roger Casement, whose knighthood was canceled fortreason during the First World War,[3] andSir Anthony Blunt, whose knighthood was withdrawn in 1979.[4]
The most recent degradations centre on the fallout from the banking crisis at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Examples includeSir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of theRoyal Bank of Scotland, who lost his knighthood in 2012 over his role in the bank's near-collapse in 2008[5] andSir James Crosby, the former chief executive ofHBOS.[6]
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