List of titles and honours of Elizabeth II


held numerous titles and honours, both during and before her time as monarch of each of her Commonwealth realms. Each is listed below; where two dates are shown, the first indicates the date of receiving the title or award, and the second indicates the date of its loss or renunciation.

Royal titles and styles

Elizabeth was originally styled "Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York".
Between her father's accession in 1936 and her marriage in 1947 she was known as "Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth". From her marriage until her accession in 1952 she was styled "Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh". Throughout her reign she was styled "Her Majesty The Queen".
Upon Elizabeth's accession to the throne, she was asked by her Private Secretary what her regnal name would be, to which she responded, "My own, of coursewhat else?" Until 1953, her official style was by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Queen, Defender of the Faith. She was proclaimed as queen using that title in Canada and South Africa, whereas, in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, she was proclaimed as Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
A decision was reached by Elizabeth's prime ministers at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference of 1952, whereby the Queen would accord herself different styles and titles in each of her realms, reflecting that in each state she acted as monarch of that particular country, regardless of her other roles. Canada's preferred format was: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Canada and of Her other realms and territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. However, as Australia wished to have the United Kingdom mentioned in all the Queen's titles, the resolution reached was a designation that included the United Kingdom as well as, for the first time, separate reference to the other Commonwealth realms. Thereafter, separate but parallel royal styles and titles acts were passed in each of the Commonwealth realms, granting Elizabeth a distinct but similarly constituted title in each state, meaning that when Elizabeth was crowned in the same year, she held seven separate titles.
With further evolution of the Commonwealth since that time, Elizabeth held at the time of her death 15 different regnal titles, one for each of the current Commonwealth realms. In all realms other than Canada and Grenada, the reference to the United Kingdom has been removed; Australia doing so in 1973, in contrast to the Australian government's position 20 years earlier. Traditionally, the Queen's titles are listed in the order in which the realms other than the United Kingdom first became Dominions—namely, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand —followed by the rest in the order in which the former colony became an independent realm: Jamaica, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Owing to her status, Elizabeth II was usually just known as "The Queen" across the world.
The Queen's British styles and titles were read out at her funeral by David White, Garter Principal King of Arms, as follows:
The Queen's New Zealand styles and titles were read out at the State Memorial Service at the Wellington Cathedral on 26 September by Phillip O'Shea, New Zealand Herald of Arms Extraordinary, as follows:

Dispute in Scotland

Though the situation was the same in every one of the Queen's realms beyond the United Kingdom, only within Scotland did the title Elizabeth II cause controversy as there had never been an Elizabeth I in Scotland. In an act of sabotage, new Royal Mail post boxes in Scotland, bearing the royal cypher EIIR, were vandalised, after which, to avoid further problems, post boxes and Royal Mail vehicles in Scotland bore only the Crown of Scotland. A legal case, MacCormick v. Lord Advocate, was taken to contest the right of the Queen to title herself Elizabeth II within Scotland, arguing that to do so would be a breach of the Act of Union. The case, however, was lost on the grounds that the pursuers had not title to sue the Crown and the numbering of monarchs was part of the royal prerogative, and thus not governed by the Act of Union. Winston Churchill suggested that future British monarchs should be numbered according to either their English or Scottish predecessors, whichever number is higher.
At the opening ceremony of the devolved Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in 1999, attended by the Queen, the Presiding Officer Lord Steel said at the close of his opening address: "It is good that today, once again, we the elected representatives of the people are able to welcome your majesty, not only as Queen of the United Kingdom, but seated as you are among us, to greet you in the historic and constitutionally correct manner, with warmth and affection, as Queen of Scots." In 2002 Winnie Ewing, then president of the Scottish National Party, wrote to the Queen asking her to adopt the title Elizabeth I in Scotland.
Other realms adopted the style "Queen Elizabeth II" despite never having been ruled by Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Regnal titles

Other

Other titles

Military ranks

  • 24 February26 July 1945: Hon. Second Subaltern, Auxiliary Territorial Service
  • 26 July 194524 July 1947: Hon. Junior Commander, Auxiliary Territorial Service
  • 24 July 19471 February 1949: Hon. Senior Controller, Auxiliary Territorial Service
  • 1 February 1949March 1950: Hon. Senior Controller, Women's Royal Army Corps

    Commonwealth of Nations honours

Commonwealth realms

Appointments

Decorations and medals

Other Commonwealth countries

Appointments

Decorations and medals

Foreign honours

Appointments

Dynastic orders

Decorations

Honorary military and police positions

; Australia
; Canada
; Fiji
  • 1970–1987: Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Fiji Military Forces
; Ghana
; New Zealand
; South Africa
  • 1947–1961: Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Durban Light Infantry
  • 1947–1961: Colonel-in-Chief of the South African Railways and Harbours Brigade
  • 1952–1961: Colonel-in-Chief of the Imperial Light Horse
  • 1953–1961: Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Natal Carbineers
  • 1953–1961: Colonel-in-Chief of the Kaffrarian Rifles
; United Kingdom