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Citizens from the 15 Commonwealth Realms (countries which have The Queen as their Monarch, in addition to the UK) are eligible to receive a number of honours, both via the UK Honours system and, where relevant, the honours system of their own country.
This page explains which honours Commonwealth citizens are eligible for and includes links to websites detailing other Commonwealth honours systems.
Commonwealth citizens and UK Honours
Citizens of all 15 Commonwealth Realms can receive honours through the UK Honours System.
Some Commonwealth governments have taken an active decision not to recommend their citizens for UK Honours. However, the UK Government can, with the permission of the relevant government, offer a UK honour to a citizen of any Commonwealth Realm.
The Governor-General (The Queen's representative in a Commonwealth Realm) usually invests the recipients in their home country, but they may, if they wish, attend an Investiture at Buckingham Palace instead.
Commonwealth citizens and Commonwealth honours
With the creation of the new Commonwealth in the mid-twentieth century, many countries of the old Empire became independent, appointed their own heads of state and some countries introduced their own honours systems.
In some cases, The Queen has been appointed Sovereign of these newly created orders, notably with the Orders of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Details of these orders, and recent appointments, can be found on the relevant Governor Generals’ websites:
In March 2009, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, announced the return of Knighthoods to the New Zealand Honours System with past recipients eligible to use the title Knight or Dame.