Knight of their highest ranks (Knight/Dame Commander and Knight/Dame Grand Cross), comes together with an honorific knighthood, making them a cross between orders of chivalry and orders of merit. By contrast, membership of other British Orders of Merit, such as the Distinguished Service Order, the Order of Merit and the Order of the Companions of Honour does not confer a knighthood. The second is being granted honorific knighthood by the British sovereign without membership of an order, the recipient being called Knight Bachelor. In the British honours system the knightly style of "Sir" is accompanied by the given name, and optionally
Doing the Honours to a High Table dinner at the college. The next morning, Hacker meets with Sir Humphrey and tells him of his plan to withhold honours. The Permanent Secretary is dumbstruck. Hacker points out that anyone else would have to earn an honour, whereas in the civil service, such things "come up with the rations". Sir Humphrey struggles to put his case, calling the idea "a Bennite solution" and demanding to know where it came from. Bernard is immediately sheepish, but Hacker does not betray him. Sir Humphrey argues that the honours system should be given a "fair trial", but the