Knight Bachelor Knight Bachelor The dignity of Knight Bachelor is the basic and lowest rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight (the rank existed during the 13th century reign of King Henry III), but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of chivalric orders. There is no female counterpart to Knight Bachelor. The lowest knightly honour that can be conferred upon a woman is Dame Commander of the
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