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Are Gongs and K's on the Block?
via NYT - EFLUse BugMeNot for Login, if req'd - wasn't at time of posting. By ALAN COWELL - July 21, 2004 Is Knighthood Ready for the Ax? How Unchivalrous! When it comes to the finer shadings of status, the British could never be called slouches at decoding those telltale clues of vocal inflection and sartorial manner that separate noblesse from nonentity, aristo from arriviste. But some of that may be about to change. Until now, when Queen Elizabeth II summoned some 3,000 of her subjects to Buckingham Palace each year to receive honors known colloquially as gongs (medals) and K's (knighthoods), even the list of the newly anointed notables offered grandeur by grade, respect by ranking. To a cacophony of approving grunts from some and disapproving harrumphs from others, however, a body of legislators called the House of Commons Public Administration Committee recommended this month that the list of available aristocratic honors be trimmed drastically, from 16 to 4, and that the word "empire" be replaced with "excellence" in such medals as the Order of the British Empire. Most radical of all, it urged that knighthoods and their female equivalent, the title of dame, be abolished within five years. You can imagine the fuss. ...more... I have no dog in this fight, but I'd wager this is heavyweight stuff for the cousins...
Posted by: .com 2004-07-22 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=38721 |