Tower Near King Henry VIII Gate, Windsor Castle, Windsor 2014
© Leslie Hossack
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill received a vast number of honours, orders, decorations and medals. The highest honour for civil and military service in Britain is Knight of the Garter. Churchill was invested with the Garter on April 24th 1953 and installed at Windsor Castle on June 14th 1954. This knighthood takes precedence over all of his other titles: Sir Winston Churchill KG, OM, CH and so on. His wife Clementine accordingly became Lady Churchill.
The Order of the Garter, the oldest British Order of Chivalry, was founded by King Edward III in 1348. Knights of the Garter are personally selected by the Monarch, and membership is limited to 25 knights plus the Sovereign. It was Queen Elizabeth II who formally invested Sir Winston Churchill in the Throne Room at Windsor Castle. Then, after a luncheon, the knights processed in their full regalia to a service in St. George’s Chapel, located within the Castle walls.
This Garter ceremonial has taken place every year since 1948 when it was revived by King George VI. Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne upon the death of her father George VI on February 6th 1952. Winston Churchill was Queen Elizabeth’s first Prime Minister; she was 25 and he was 77. Sir Winston continued to serve as her Prime Minister until April 5th 1955 when he resigned from that position at age 80.
The image featured above is part of the limited edition collector’s portfolio created by Leslie Hossack to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill. She presents locations that chart Churchill’s personal and political life, from his birth at Blenheim Palace in 1874 until his death in London in 1965. THE CHURCHILL PHOTOGRAPHS are part of Hossack’s larger body of work that explores Nazi architecture in Berlin, Stalinist structures in Moscow, contested sites in Jerusalem, a Cold War bunker in Ottawa, NATO’s Headquarter Camp in Kosovo, and buildings linked to the Japanese Canadian internment during World War II.
To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com
HAUTE VITRINE 