Which of these is the highest in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire?

There are two times a year (on The Queen’s Official Birthday and on New Year’s Day), lists of those set to receive honours from The Queen are published by the Government.

The Order of the British Empire has 6 ranks, the ranks are:

MBE - Member of the Order of the British Empire.

OBE - Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

CBE - Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

KBE - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

DBE -Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

GBE - Commande of the Order of the British Empire

GBE - This is the top rank in the order and typically only one or two of these are given out a year – they’re extremely rare and are given out for exceptional service. The holder uses the title of Sir (male) or Dame (female).

The wife of a KBE or GBE is entitled to use the title of Lady X where X represents their surname. For example, the wife of Sir John Smith (KBE) would be known as Lady Smith.

The clergy, non-Commonwealth realm citizens and those with existing titles (such as Lord) typically don’t use the title of ‘Sir’ or ‘Dame’ and instead just put the letters after their name, e.g. Lord Smith KBE.

It is incorrect to refer to a knight or dame using their surname, for example Sir Smith – Sir John is the correct form.