Knight of the Thistle
Calwell: ‘He’ll be harder than ever to handle now!’ - John Frith cartoon of Menzies the Thistle, preserved in the Museum of Australian Democracy.
On this day, 1 July 1963, Queen Elizabeth II installs Sir Robert Menzies as a Knight of the Thistle during an elaborate ceremony in Edinburgh. Menzies thus became one of just twelve knights of an exclusive Scottish order, reputed to date back to 809 when the Scottish King Achaius made an alliance with the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne. Menzies remains the only Australian to ever have been knighted in the order, which is the oldest order of chivalry in Britain, and second only to England’s Order of the Garter in precedence.
While the Achaius story may be mythical, more tangible history shows that the thistle had been adopted as an emblem of Scotland by James III (1488-1513). It was his distant successor, the controversial James VII (James II of England) who revived the order and gave it a statutory basis in 1687. He used it to reward Scottish peers who supported the king’s political and religious aims, giving the order the motto Nemo me impune lacessit (No one harms me with impunity).
Menzies’s elevation thus represented a recognition of his Scottish roots, and during the ceremony the Queen even pronounced his name using the Scottish ‘Ming-iz’ (the pronunciation that gave rise to Menzies’s uncharitable nickname ‘Ming the Merciless’). Scottish identity and the Scots-associated Presbyterian religion were an essential part of Menzies’s identity and world view. The Menzies Collection, Menzies’s personal library housed at the University of Melbourne, reveals that he amassed an extensive range of books on Scottish history, culture, and the story of the Menzies clan. Benjamin Wilkie has documented how Menzies was extensively involved in organisations like the Melbourne Scots and the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne.
Other members of the latter included Menzies’s Prime Ministerial predecessors George Reid, Andrew Fisher, Joseph Cook and Stanley Bruce. Australian liberalism owes much to the Scottish influence, including the ideas of Adam Smith, Protestant values like thrift and sturdy independence, and what Menzies called a ‘sense of continuity’. It is worth noting that the founder of the prototypical Australian ‘liberal party’ Joseph Carruthers, was likewise a Scots Presbyterian heavily shaped by these influences.
The honour also represented Menzies’s close personal relationship with the Royal Family. Unlike other royal orders, the Order of the Thistle is entirely the personal gift of the Queen and not made on the recommendation of the Government. This was a time in which Commonwealth Prime Ministers met in Britain annually, and with Menzies’s great longevity he had become the elder statesman of such meetings. Menzies was just the second Australian prime minister to be knighted while in office, and while he had previously expressed reservations about such a practice, he was not about to refuse the personal gift of Her Majesty.
The Canberra Times reported the installation ceremony, which took place the tiny ‘Thistle chapel’ in St Giles Cathedral, in the following manor:
‘Sir Robert, dressed for the first time in the green mantle of the order and carrying a green hat with white plume, walked in procession with 12 brother knights, including the Duke of Edinburgh.
About 50 members of the Royal Company of Archers, dressed in lovat green uniforms and eagle-plumed bonnets, formed a guard of honour outside the cathedral. Each archer carried a long bow and had three feathered arrows protruding from his belt.
Flags were flying all along the Royal Mile, which extends from the Palace of Holyrood House to Edinburgh Castle. Crowds had cheered the Queen as she and the Duke of Edinburgh drove from the palace to the cathedral in the plastic-roofed Royal car.
At the Cathedral, the Queen and the Duke were greeted by the Earl of Airlie, Princess Alexandra’s father-in-law, who is the senior Knight of the Thistle. The Queen wore the forest green velvet robe of the Thistle order, and the black velvet cap with white plume which traditionally accompanies it. Under the robe, she wore an ankle-length gown of ivory, heavily embroidered with gold and silver. The Duke was also wearing the robe of the order.
With its centuries – old ceremonial and ritual, the services of installation in the Thistle chapel was conducted by the Dean of the Thistle, Dr. Charles Warr. Sir Robert, as the junior knight, walked at the head of the 12 other Knights of the Thistle. Dame Pattie Menzies and her son, Mr. Kenneth Menzies, walked with members of the Royal household in the procession to the Cathedral. The Queen took her place in the Royal stall and Sir Robert stood before her.
The Queen said: “It is out pleasure that Sir Robert Gordon Menzies be installed a Knight of the most ancient and most noble Order of the Thistle.”’
Further Reading:
Benjamin Wilkie, ‘Menzies, Scotland and the Australian Liberals’, Meanjin, Winter 2019, Menzies, Scotland and the Australian Liberals (meanjin.com.au)
‘Menzies Installed as Knight of the Thistle’, The Canberra Times, 2 July 1963, p.1.