Theorder of precedence in the United Kingdom is thesequential hierarchy for Peers of the Realm, officers of state, senior members of theclergy, holders of the variousOrders of Chivalry, and is mostly determined by, but not limited to, birth order, place in the line of succession, or distance from the reigning monarch. The order of precedence can also be applied to other persons in the three legal jurisdictions within theUnited Kingdom:

• England and Wales
• Scotland

Separate orders exist for males and females.

Theorder of precedence is determined by various methods. TheHouse of Lords Precedence Act 1539 (which technically applies only to determine seating in theHouse of Lords Chamber) and the Acts of Union with Scotland and Ireland generally set precedence for members of the nobility. The statutes of the various Orders of Chivalry set precedence for their members. In other cases, precedence may be decided by the sovereign's order, by aRoyal Warrant of Precedence, byletters patent, by Acts of Parliament, or by custom.

One may acquire precedence for various reasons. Firstly, one may be an office-holder. Secondly, one may be of a particular degree such asduke. Thirdly, in the case of women, one may be the wife of a title-holder (note that wives acquire precedence due to their husbands, but husbands do not gain any special precedence due to their wives). Finally, one may be the son or daughter of a title-holder.

One does not gain precedence as a child of a lady, unless that lady is a peeress in her own right. Furthermore, if a daughter of a peer marries a commoner, then she retains her precedence as a daughter of a peer. However, if she marries a peer, then her precedence is based on her husband's status, and not on her father's.

The King or Queen of the United Kingdom, as the sovereign, is always first in the order of precedence. A king is followed by hisqueen consort, the first in the order of precedence for women. The reverse, however, is not always true forqueens regnant. There is no established law of precedence for aprince consort, so he is usually specially granted precedence above all other males byletters patent or, on the other hand, may rank lower than the heir apparent or the heir presumptive, even if the heir is his own son, such as with Prince Albert and Edward VII, who outranked their father as Prince of Wales.

• Letters patent dated 31 December 2012 declared all the children of the eldest son of thePrince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title, and attribute ofRoyal Highness with the titular dignity ofPrince orPrincess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour.^{[citation needed]} BeforeCharles III's accession to the throne, all ofPrince William's, thenDuke of Cambridge, children were known as prince or princess. However, asPrince George, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, currently has no children, no person presently qualifies for HRH status under these letters patent.
• There is no specific place in the order for a great-grandchild of the sovereign (no matter how senior in theorder of succession). The sons of aduke of the blood royal are entitled to precedence after all non-royal dukes, pursuant to the unrevoked Lord Chamberlain's Order of 1520 as amended in 1595. The daughters have the equivalent position in the women's order.^[2]

In England and Wales, theArchbishop of Canterbury is the highest in precedence following the royal family. Then come, assuming the post ofLord High Steward is vacant (as it usually has been since 1421), theLord Chancellor, and theArchbishop of York. Next come thePrime Minister (since 1905),^[3] theLord President of the Privy Council, theSpeaker of the House of Commons, theLord Speaker of theHouse of Lords (since July 2006), thePresident of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (since October 2009), theLord Chief Justice of England and Wales (since November 2007) and theLord Privy Seal.

The precedence of theLord Great Chamberlain, theEarl Marshal, theLord Steward and theLord Chamberlain are determined by the rank and class of the peerage of the holders of such offices.

In Scotland, theKeeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and theKeeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, if peers, rank after the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords. If not so, then they rank after the younger sons of dukes. The hereditaryHigh Constable of Scotland and theMaster of the Household of Scotland rank above dukes. If the Keepers of the Seals are peers, then the Keepers precede the High Constable and Master.

The ranks of Peers are as follows: Duke (and Duchess), Marquess (and Marchioness), Earl (and Countess), Viscount (and Viscountess), and Baron (and Baroness) together with ScottishLord (and Lady) of Parliament.

Within their own respective ranks, the rank of Peers correspond to the age (venerability) of the creation of their peerages; that is, the older the title, the more senior the title's holder is. However, seniority rules also depend on the country within the current UK where the title originated, so that English peers hold the highest ranks, followed by Scottish peers. After English and Scottish peers, peers created in Great Britain as whole in (1707–1801) follow. Together over the Pre-Union Peerage of Ireland (pre-1801), and together they all take precedence over either the senior Peerage of the United Kingdom (post-1801), or the junior Post-Union Peerage of Ireland (1801–1922).

Subject to the same governing rules as detailed in the paragraphs above, the rank of the wives of Peers is also governed by the venerability (age) of the peerage. A dowager Peeress (widow of a deceased Peer) would however always precede the wife of the present Peer.

Barons and Baronesses of thelife peerage rank immediately below Barons and Baronesses of the hereditary peerage and Scottish Lords and Ladies in Parliament.

In England and Wales, theArchbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England, is the most senior person outside of Royalty, and after theLord Chancellor, immediately followed by theArchbishop of York, Primate of England. Primates (i.e. archbishops) and bishops of theChurch of England rank immediately above Peers. First come the Bishops of London and Durham, followed by the Bishop of Winchester, followed by the other diocesan bishops in order of seniority, and then the suffragan bishops in order of seniority.

TheBishop of Sodor and Man and theAnglican Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, whoseSees are full and integral parts of the EcclesiasticalProvinces of York andCanterbury, respectively, are also usually included as suffragan bishops of the Church of England for the purpose of precedence.^{[citation needed]}

See thelist of Lords Spiritual for the most senior 21 diocesan bishops ordered by seniority.

In Scotland, theLord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ranks immediately below the sovereign or consort (depending on their respective sex), but only when the General Assembly is in session, and immediately followed by theModerator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

According to theunofficial order of precedence for Northern Ireland published by the publishers ofBurke's Peerage, 106th Edition,[1], the precedence ofall of the primates and archbishops of theRoman Catholic Church in Ireland and theChurch of Ireland, together with theModerator of thePresbyterian Church in Ireland, are to be determined solely by seniority, according to the dates of consecration or translation, or the date of election, in the case of the Presbyterian Moderator, without any presumption of automatic Roman Catholic or Protestant seniority, Anglican or Presbyterian.

The two highestorders of chivalry in England and Wales, and in Scotland, are theOrder of the Garter, and theOrder of the Thistle, respectively. Knights/Ladies Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG/LG) and Knights/Ladies of the Order of the Thistle (KT/LT) precedebaronets (Bt./Btss.). After the baronets then come the remaining members of all the other Britishorders of chivalry, starting with Knights/Dames Grand Cross of theOrder of the Bath (GCB), in the following order of their ranks:Knight or Dame Grand Cross,Knight or Dame Commander, Commander or Companion, Lieutenant or Officer, and Member.

For individual members with equivalent ranks but of different orders, precedence is accorded based on the seniority of the British orders of chivalry: the Order of the Bath, theOrder of St Michael and St George, theRoyal Victorian Order, and theOrder of the British Empire. For equivalent ranks and orders, those appointed earlier precede those appointed later.Knights Bachelor come after Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Wives of Knights Companion of the Order of the Garter, Knights of the Order of the Thistle, and Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commanders, and Commanders or Companions of the other orders receive precedence based on their husbands' positions. Wives of individuals of a certain rank follow in precedence after female holders of the same rank. Thus, wives of Knights Grand Cross follow Dames Grand Cross.

Wives of baronets go immediately above all Dames Grand Cross of the British chivalric orders, and therefore are below Ladies Companion and wives of Knights Companion of the Order of the Garter, Ladies and wives of Knights of the Order of the Thistle, and wives of Knights of theOrder of St Patrick. Baronets' widows follow rules similar to dowager peeresses: a widow of a previous baronet comes immediately before the wife of the present baronet.

• British Army order of precedence
• Line of succession to the British throne
• Forms of address in the United Kingdom
• TheHouse of Lords Precedence Act 1539
• TheUnion with Scotland Act 1706, article XXIII
• TheUnion with Ireland Act 1800
• Ministerial ranking

• Debretts
• The Union with Ireland Act 1800, article IV
• Bedford, Michael (editor).Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1998. 179th edition. Vacher Dod. 1998.ISBN 0 905702 26 3. Pages 504 to 510.
• Dod, Charles Roger.A Manual of Dignities, Privilege and Precedence. London: Whitaker and Co., 1843.

• Orders of precedence
• British nobility
• Culture of the United Kingdom
• Monarchy of the United Kingdom

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