Protocol ranking in the United Kingdom

The protocol hierarchy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , like the history of the British monarchy , is long and complex. There are separate lists for the individual parts of the empire ( England and Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland ) as well as for women and men. In the United Kingdom, the social significance of the protocol rank was still very great until the Second World War .

A consolidated precedent list would, in very simplified terms, follow this pattern:

1. The monarch ( Queen Elizabeth II )
2. Members of the royal family
3. The highest ecclesiastical dignitary (in England the Archbishop of Canterbury , Justin Welby )
4. The Great Officers of State and some other ceremonial offices; these can also be found spread over the rest of the list
5. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ( Boris Johnson )
6. Prime Minister of the Commonwealth when visiting the Kingdom
7. The Speaker of the House of Commons ( Lindsay Hoyle )
8. The Speaker of the House of Lords ( Lord Fowler )
9. The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales ( John Thomas, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd )
10. Foreign ambassadors
11. Higher British Nobles :
    1. Dukes
    2. Marquesses
    3. Earls
    4. Viscounts
12. Bishops of the Church of England (not in Scotland)
13. Barons and Lords of Parliament
14. Minister of the Crown
15. Titular nobility ( baronets and knights ; salutation sir / lady ), in between judges
16. Esquires and ladies or gentlemen

The most powerful office in fact is that of Prime Minister as head of government .

Web links

• http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/order_precedence.htm (For England and Wales)
• http://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/59201/page.htm (For the members of the new Supreme Court)
• http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/aep/1539/caep_15390010_en_1 (For the members of the House of Lords)

Individual evidence

1. ^ New Lord Speaker. UK Parliament, August 24, 2016, accessed September 7, 2016 .