Today we welcome to our 10 am service members of the Royal Victorian Order who come to us
for their annual church service. The Royal Victorian Order is given by The Queen to people who have served her or the Monarchy in a personal way.
These may include officials of the Royal Household, family members, perhaps those who have helped organise a State Visit to a particular country, or people who have served Her Majesty by working for her representative, in most of our cases, the Australian Governor-General.
The Order was founded in April 1896 by Queen Victoria as a way of rewarding personal service to her, on her own initiative rather than by ministerial recommendation.
The Order was, and is, entirely within The Sovereign’s personal gift. The anniversary of the institution of the Order is 20 June, the day of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne.