Order of Merit "KMS", and the Order of Artistic Merit for Knights of Merit in Art, with the post-nominal letters "KMA". However, Sir Frederic Leighton, President of the Royal Academy, advised against the new order, primarily because of its selection process. Victoria's son, King Edward VII, eventually founded the Order of Merit on 26 June 1902 (the date for which his coronation had been originally planned) as a means to acknowledge "exceptionally meritorious service in Our Navy and Our Army, or who may have rendered exceptionally meritorious service towards the advancement of Art, Literature and Science". All modern aspects of the order were
Order of Merit for Labour renounced the title after he was found guilty of tax fraud. Order of Merit for Labour The Order of Merit for Labour (Italian: "Ordine al Merito del Lavoro") was founded as a national order of chivalry in 1923 by King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy; it is awarded to those "who have been singularly meritorious" in agriculture, industry and commerce, crafts, lending and insurance. It is a continuation of the earlier "Ordine al Merito Agrario, Industriale e Commerciale" founded in 1901. Members of the order may use the title "Cavaliere del lavoro". The origins of the order lie with King