The lesser known royal that has more military medals than Charles (2024)

King Charles and Princess Anne during the procession of the Queen's coffin in Edinburgh (Image: Getty)

TABLE OF CONTENT

• King Charles - 13 medals
• Queen Camilla - Three medals (maybe four)
• Prince William - Five medals
• Princess Kate - Seven medals
• Prince Harry - Five medals
• Princess Anne - 12 medals
• Prince Andrew - 10 medals
• Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh - Nine medals
• Sophie, duch*ess of Edinburgh - Five medals
• Prince Edward, Duke of Kent

Landmark royal events are dripping with pomp and pageantry; the Firm are decked out in military regalia, dazzling adoring fans around the world. However, many are left wondering what the military garb denotes, especially when it comes to the gleaming medals on each royal’s chest.

Each member of the Royal Family is permitted to wear different medals depending on their military history, the honours they’ve received or for coronations and jubilees.

You may think the more senior a royal is, the more medals they’ll don. But that’s not quite right. For example, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, has 14 medals to wear, whereas the King has fewer.

Express.co.uk breaks down what each member of the family will wear on their chests at major events and displays so you can wow your nearest and dearest with your obscure royal knowledge.

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King Charles wears a large collection of medals at major royal events (Image: Getty)

The King, unsurprisingly, gets to wear a lot of medals. When he was still a Prince, the then-future monarch followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and both great-grandfathers by embarking upon a naval career. Prior to that he had trained as a pilot.

His military tenure lasted between 1971 and 1976, but the King has remained close to the forces ever since. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II made him Field Marshal, Admiral of the Fleet and Marshal of the Royal Air Force - the highest rank in all three services.

Medals:

• Queen’s Service Order (New Zealand)

• Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal

• Silver Jubilee Medal

• Gold Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Platinum Jubilee Medal

• Naval Long Service and Good Conduct medal (with three additional service bars)

• Canadian Forces Decoration (with three additional service bars)

• The New Zealand Commemorative medal

• The New Zealand Armed Forces Award

• Order of the Garter (collar)

• Order of the Green Thistle (sash)

• King Charles III Coronation Medal

Queen Camilla wears through medals than the King (Image: Getty)

The Queen wears comparably fewer medals than her husband. Given her lack of military background, she doesn’t qualify for any silverware in that field. However, as a working royal, she isn’t left medal-less.

Her recent appointment to Grand Master of the Order of the British Empire - an honour bestowed upon Prince Philip, and the King’s grandfather George VI - will see her get a new medal to wear.

Medals:

• Order of the Garter

• Royal Family Order,

• King Charles III Coronation Medal

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Prince William now has five medals he can wear (Image: Getty)

The Prince of Wales, like his father, is a trained RAF pilot. However he does not carry any military medals for service during specific campaigns.

He does however wear medals as a member of the working Royal Family and following his recent honour as Great Master of the Order of the Bath, he will receive another decorative medal to wear. The Order of the Bath was established in the 1700s, to mark exemplary service in military or civilian life.

Medals:

• Gold Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Platinum Jubilee Medal

• Order of the Garter or Order of the Thistle

• Great Master of the Order of the Bath

The Princess of Wales, despite not being born into the Royal Family, wears two more medals than her husband.

As well as her four jubilee ribbons, she wears three other medals, including the Royal Victorian Order - established in 1896 by Queen Victoria to recognise distinguished personal service to the monarch or other member of the household.

On Wednesday, alongside Prince William and Queen Camilla’s recognition, she was given the Companion of Honour recognising achievement in arts, medicine, sciences and public service.

Medals:

• Silver Jubilee Medal

• Gold Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Platinum Jubilee Medal

• Royal Victorian Order

• Royal Family Order

• Companion of Honour

Prince Harry and Princess Anne both wear military medals (Image: Getty)

Like his brother, the Duke of Sussex has five medals he can wear. However, unlike Prince William, Prince Harry wears one of his medals for combat service.

His two tours of Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 qualified him for the ribbon. He left the Army formally in 2015 at the rank of Captain.

Medals:

• Afghanistan Service Medal

• Gold Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Platinum Jubilee Medal

• Royal Victorian Order

The King’s sister Princess Anne, known for being one of the hardest working members of the Firm, is well-decorated when it comes to major royal events.

In 2020, the Princess was promoted to General in the Army and to Air Chief Marshal in the RAF, to go with her rank of Admiral in the Navy.

Medals:

• Queen’s Service Order (New Zealand)

• Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal

• Silver Jubilee Medal

• Gold Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Platinum Jubilee Medal

• Naval Long Service and Good Conduct medal

• Canadian Forces Decoration

• Order of St John Service medal

• New Zealand Commemorative Medal

• Order of the Garter and/ or Order of the Thistle

• Royal Victorian Order

Prince Andrew has lots of royal and military medals, despite losing his HRH status (Image: Getty)

Prince Andrew may have lost his HRH status, but he hasn’t lost his medals. The disgraced Prince has ten medals he can where at royal events, the most notable of which is the South Atlantic Campaign Medal, which he earned for his service as a helicopter pilot in the 1982 Falklands War.

Like his father, he also wears the Naval Long Service and Good Conduct medal, the Canadian Forces Decoration and the New Zealand Commemorative Medal.

Medals:

• South Atlantic Campaign Medal: Denotes Andrew’s active service during the Falklands War as a helicopter pilot.

• Silver Jubilee Medal

• Gold Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Platinum Jubilee Medal

• Naval Long Service and Good Conduct medal

• Canadian Forces Decoration

• New Zealand Commemorative Medal

• Order of the Garter

• Royal Victorian Order

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh stepping out with his medals (Image: Getty)

Prince Edward, despite not being as senior a member of the family as others, is always well-decorated at royal events.

After spending three years in the Royal Marines as a university cadet, Prince Edward left to pursue a career in theatre production. However, in 2006, he was made Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and two years later, Honorary Air Commodore of Royal Air Force Waddington.

Medals:

• Silver Jubilee Medal

• Gold Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Platinum Jubilee Medal

• Long Service and Good Conduct medal

• Canadian Forces Decoration

• New Zealand Commemorative Medal

• Order of the Garter

• Royal Victorian Order

The duch*ess of Edinburgh doesn’t have a military background, so she wears five medals marking Queen Elizabeth II’s four jubilees as well as the Royal Family Order.

Medals:

• Silver Jubilee Medal

• Gold Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Platinum Jubilee Medal

• Royal Family Order

Prince Edward has a vast number of medals thanks to his service marking independence celebrations (Image: Getty)

The 88-year-old Duke of Kent has perhaps the most interesting collection of medals.

With a rich military history, Prince Edward has plenty of bling to show off. Most notably, he was a commander of a UN peace-keeping force in Cyrpus in 1970. Despite retiring from the Army in 1976, he was promoted to the honorary rank of Major General in 1983 and Field Marshall in 1993.

He also represented the Queen at independence celebrations in Commonwealth countries like Guyana and Sierra Leone.

• the Garter Star

• the Neck Order: Order of St. Michael and St. George

• the UN Peace Keeping Medal (Cyprus)

• the King George Coronation Medal

• the The Queen’s Coronation Medal

• the Golden Jubilee Medal

• the Silver Jubilee Medal

• Diamond Jubilee Medal

• Long Service Medal

• Canadian Long Service Medal

• Sierra Leone Independence Medal

• Guyana Independence medal

• Royal Victorian Order

• King Charles III Coronation Medal

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