Page of Honour


A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The only physical activity involved is usually carrying the long train of the Sovereign's robes. This position is distinct from that of a page in the Royal Household, which is the senior rank of uniformed staff.
Pages of Honour participate in major ceremonies involving the British monarch, including coronations and the State Opening of Parliament. It is usually a distinction granted to teenage sons of members of the nobility and gentry, and especially of senior members of the Royal Household.

Livery

Pages of Honour in England wear a scarlet frock coat with gold trimmings, a white satin waistcoat, white breeches and hose, white gloves, black buckled shoes and a lace cravat and ruffles. A sword is also worn with the outfit and a feathered three-cornered hat is provided. In Scotland the outfit is identical, but in green rather than scarlet. In Ireland, when Pages of Honour were attendant upon the King, Pages of Honour wore exactly the same uniform as at the English Court, except that the colour was St. Patrick's blue with silver lace.
At coronations, the peers who carry regalia in the procession were expected to have their own pages in attendance. These pages are directed to wear "the same pattern of clothes as the Pages of Honour wear, but of the Livery colour of the Lords they attend... ...the Royal liveries being scarlet and gold, the use of this combination of colours is restricted to the Pages of Honour, and in the case of a Peer whose colours are scarlet and gold, for scarlet some variant, such as murrey or claret, should be used."

Pages of Honour by monarch

Charles II

First Page of Honour
  • 1689–1692?: Nicholas Needham
  • 1692–1697: Carew Rawleigh
  • 1697–1702: Robert Rich
Second Page of Honour
  • 1689–1690: Arnold van Keppel
  • 1690–1693?: Ernest Henry Ittersum
  • 1695–1702: Thomas Harrison
Third Page of Honour
  • 1689–1693?: Charles Dormer
  • 1697–1702: William Colt
Fourth Page of Honour
  • 1690–1693: Matthew Harvey
  • 1693–1697: George Feilding
  • 1697–1702: Allan Wentworth
John Brockhuisen appears in the post-mortem accounts of the Board of Green Cloth as a page of honour to William III, but this may be an error, as he appears elsewhere as a pensioner after serving as Queen Mary's page of honour.

Anne

First Page of Honour
  • 1702–1707: Hon. John Egerton
  • 1707–1714: Hon. Richard Arundell
Second Page of Honour
Third Page of Honour
  • 1702–1708: John Gough
  • 1708–1712: Charles Hedges
  • 1712–1714: Thomas Murray
Fourth Page of Honour
  • 1702–1710: Hon. Henry Berkeley
  • 1710–1714: John Hampden

    George I

First Page of Honour
  • 1714–1727: Guildford Killigrew
Second Page of Honour
  • 1714–1718: John Mordaunt
  • 1718–1721: Emanuel Howe
  • 1721–1727: Archibald Carmichael
Third Page of Honour
Fourth Page of Honour
  • 1714–1724: Thomas Bludworth
  • 1724–1727: Walter Villiers
  • 1727: Henry Newton

    George II

First Page of Honour
Second Page of Honour
  • 1727–1731: Henry Panton
  • 1731–1735: Henry d'Arcy
  • 1735–1739: John Ashburnham
  • 1739–1744: Bluett Wallop
  • 1744–1747: Hon. William Howe
  • 1747–1751: Hon. George West
  • 1751–1755: William Feilding
  • 1755–1760: Hon. Henry Monckton
Third Page of Honour
  • 1727–1731: Sir William Irby, Bt
  • 1731–1737: Hon. John Boscawen
  • 1737–1740: Charles Lee
  • 1740–1746: Sandys Mill
  • 1746–1747: Hon. George Bennet
  • 1747–1752: Thomas Brudenell
  • 1752–1757: William Middleton
  • 1757–1760: Henry Wallop
Fourth Page of Honour
  • 1727–1731: Archibald Carmichael
  • 1731–1737: Thomas Style
  • 1737–1741: Hon. Charles Roper
  • 1741–1746: Hon. William Keppel
  • 1746–1748: Charles Knollis
  • 1748–1753: Harvey Smith
  • 1753–1759: James Bathurst
  • 1759–1760: John Wrottesley

    George III

First Page of Honour
Second Page of Honour
  • 1760–1764: Henry Vernon
  • 1764–1772: Thomas Thoroton
  • 1772–1777: Richard Barrington
  • 1777–1782: Henry Hall
  • 1782–1794: Charles West
  • 1794–1802: George Dashwood
  • 1802–1803: Hon. Fitzroy Stanhope
  • 1803–1808: vacant
  • 1808–1809: Henry Buckley
  • 1809–1815: Philip Stanhope
  • 1816–1820: Hon. William Graves
Third Page of Honour
Fourth Page of Honour
Fifth Page of Honour
  • 1760–1761: John Wrottesley
  • 1773–1781: George Bristow
  • 1781–1782: John Murray

    George IV

First Page of Honour
  • 1820–1821: Arthur Richard Wellesley
  • 1821–1826: Lord Frederick Paulet
  • 1826–1828: William Hervey-Bathurst
  • 1828–1830: Henry d'Aguilar
Second Page of Honour
Third Page of Honour
Fourth Page of Honour
  • 1820–1825: Arthur Torrens
  • 1825–1830: Joseph Hudson

    William IV

First Page of Honour
Second Page of Honour
Third Page of Honour
  • 1830–1832: Arthur Somerset
  • 1832–1837: Lord Hay
Fourth Page of Honour
  • 1830: Joseph Hudson
  • 1830–1837: Hon. Adolphus Graves
  • 1837: James Cowell

    Victoria

First Page of Honour
  • 1837–1839: Charles Ellice
  • 1839–1844: Charles Wemyss
  • 1844–1852: George Gordon
  • 1852–1859: Henry Farquharson
  • 1859–1862: Edmund Boyle
  • 1862–1869: Hon. Spencer Jocelyn
  • 1869–1871: Hon. Frederick Bruce
  • 1871–1876: Victor Biddulph
  • 1876–1881: Hon. Victor Spencer
  • 1881–1884: Percy Cust
  • 1884–1890: Eric Thesiger
  • 1890–1894: Hon. Maurice Drummond
  • 1894–1901: Josslyn Egerton
  • 1901–1901: John Bigge
Second Page of Honour
  • 1837–1840: George Cavendish
  • 1840–1847: Henry Byng
  • 1847–1853: Alfred Crofton
  • 1853–1861: Charles Phipps
  • 1861–1867: Arthur Paget
  • 1867–1874: George Grey
  • 1874–1877: Laurence Drummond
  • 1877–1882: Albert Wellesley
  • 1882–1887: Arthur Ponsonby
  • 1887–1892: Victor Wellesley
  • 1892–1895: Albert Clarke
  • 1895–1899: Hon. John Henniker–Major
  • 1899–1901: The Viscount Torrington
Third Page of Honour
Fourth Page of Honour
  • 1837–1840: James Cowell
  • 1840–1845: Herbert Wilson
  • 1845–1852: William Forbes
  • 1852–1859: George Macpherson
  • 1859–1866: Henry Loftus
  • 1866–1870: Hon. Frederick Stopford
  • 1870–1876: Arthur Hardinge
  • 1876–1877: George Macdonald
  • 1877–1881: Hon. Francis Hay
  • 1881–1883: George Byng
  • 1883–1886: Hon. Edward FitzRoy
  • 1886–1890: Cyril Stopford
  • 1890–1895: Geoffrey Stewart
  • 1895–1897: Alexander Wood
  • 1897–1901: Harold Festing

    Edward VII

First Page of Honour
  • 1901–1904: John Bigge
  • 1904–1910: Hon. Edward Knollys
Second Page of Honour
Third Page of Honour
  • 1901: Hon. Ivan Josselyn Hay
  • 1901–1907: Hon. Victor Alexander Spencer
  • 1907–1910: George Lane
Fourth Page of Honour
  • 1901–1902: Harold Festing
  • 1902–1906: Nigel Legge
  • 1906–1908: Edward Hardinge
  • 1908–1910: Walter Campbell