What's An OBE?
by Maggie Mayall

A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON THE OBE: The OBE is a way for the Sovereign of England to award her common subjects, from all walks of life, in recognition for service to humankind, as representatives of the United Kingdom. Reading up on the process a bit, I found that this medal of honour was created in 1917 by King George V. At the time, women were not allowed to receive medals of honour of any kind, with the exception of Florence Nightingale. With World War I British Nursing in mind, The Order Of The British Empire was created. Nowadays, about 2,000 awards are given per year, at roughly 22 ceremonies at the Palace per year. Today. the Queen of England officially bestows the award upon each recipient, with a beautiful certificate actually signed by her to commemorate. She sometimes is not able to physically be there for the ceremony, at which time, the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, stands in for her duties. The OBE is separated into Military and Civilian categories. There are two tiers in the civilian Order: Officers and Members of the Order of The British Empire. There is an OBE chapel in the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral in London, St. Faith's Under St. Paul's. It is in the crypt, where such notables as William Blake, Christopher Wren (the architect of St. Paul's), Henry Moore, Nightingale, The Duke of Wellington, and Lord Nelson, among others, are entombed. There are a few privileges to being an OBE. One of them is that all children and grandchildren of an OBE can be baptized and married in that chapel in St. Paul’s Cathedral. I know there are other privileges, but I stopped reading there and had a cry....

But, I digress!

The whole Buckingham Palace experience was quite an amazing thing for a Midwestern girl of modest, west-side-of-Chicago background. After we’d gotten over the fact that the Queen was attending a conference in Malta, and that Prince Charles would officiate in her place, which took about 12 seconds to digest, we excitedly arrived early with many lovely ladies in various hats and gentlemen in their morning dress. Then we were let through the gates, as tourists gawked, right past the guards who change but barely move an eyelash in between. Passed some special royal guards who were actually wearing modified suits of armour with halberds (swords-on-sticks). I thought they were statues and almost ran into one! Then I realized they were breathing human beings! Totally still. So we were actually IN Buckingham Palace with guards and big columns, tapestries hanging and giant oil paintings of Royals that I do not know. Red carpets led the way, with more guards all around, in different dress and uniforms and carrying more halberds.

I was pleasantly surprised at the giddy atmosphere of the whole event, at least up until the ceremony began, when things of course got serious. Those that greeted us in the Investitures Ballroom were cheerful and witty (they were: The Lord Chamberlain, Deputy Master of the Household, Equerry in Waiting, and Secretary of the Central Chancery of the Orders Of Knighthood). As we were the 4th or 5th party to arrive, they seated us on the upper dais, near the front. Sitting high up was the advantage of having a child with us—it was a terrific view and we were not blocked by a row in front! They had taken John and all the other recipients to a holding area, where they were put in order and given a lesson on how to greet the Prince and receive their award. The ladies are instructed to walk forward when announced, turn and curtsy, four steps forward, curtsy, shake hands and have their medal pinned on by the Prince whilst he has a little chat with them. Curtsy. Four steps backward. Curtsy, then turn and walk out (no turning your back on the Prince). Men do the same, except a small bow instead of the curtsy. The Prince graciously had quite a long chat with each. You could see the ladies giggle at things he said to them. How sweet! It was lovely.

The Prince entered the Ballroom, attended by two Gurkha Orderly Officers, a tradition begun in 1876 by Queen Victoria. On duty on the dais are five members of The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, which was created in 1485 by King Henry VII after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field. They are not only the oldest Royal Body Guard but also the oldest military corps still existing in the U.K. Four Gentlemen Ushers to the Queen are on duty to help look after the recipients and their guests, and music was provided by The Orchestra of The Welsh Guards. (source: Investitures Programme) The guards took their positions on the little stage up front, struck a pose, and didn’t move until the whole thing was over (about an hour and a half!). The dais was red-carpeted, with two crimson thrones at the back. I assume they are for The Queen and Prince Philip. A crimson velvet canopy overhung the thrones. An oversized red velvet crown topped the canopy. When the Prince came in, dressed in his military uniform and flanked by his guards in colorful dress, the ceremonies were underway. We all rose.

He first paused and looked everyone over, taking us all in, then he bade us to sit. (How exciting! Prince Charles bade me to sit!)

First in line was a Dame being made a Dame Commander. Then three Knighthoods. Then all the military OBE’s, followed by the civilians and finally the MBE's. For each category, it was Ladies First, in alphabetical, then the men in alphabetical. I love the British. They’re so polite.

There were people receiving awards for work with the disadvantaged, business interests in other countries, teachers, librarians, those who work with the elderly, work with pets for the elderly, people who work with the sick, people who work in housing for the poor, a famous British talk show host, drama teachers, music teachers, art historians, film people, television people, environmentalists…. people whose work is valuable to their communities and to society. How lovely. And our John.

Then John Mayall was called, for his Service in Music. He nodded to us and took his first steps. Of course, he performed the whole thing right. He looked amazing. There was quite a buzz in the air about him being present. The Prince chatted with him for what seemed like ages. And then he was done! Afterwards, we asked him what the Prince said and he said that once you’re finished, your mind is kind of blank and it’s hard to remember. The Prince told him he hoped this would give him incentive to keep on working! I should think so.