LETTER:Thatcher's garter

Sir: You state that Baroness Thatcher is the seventh former prime minister appointed to the Order of the Garter and include in your list Earl Attlee (report, 22 April). While he was appointed by the Queen, he held office during her father's reign.

In fact, this century there have been 10 prime ministers honoured with the Garter. To your list may be added Balfour (1922), Asquith (1925) and Baldwin (1937, receiving the honour on the day of his resignation). Lord Home, of course, holds the Order of the Thistle - considered rightly to be on a par with the Garter as the senior Scottish order.

It is perhaps interesting to note that of the 50 persons to hold office since Walpole, 31 have received either the Garter or the Thistle. It has long been the convention that both could not be held at the same time (hence Lord Bute surrendered the latter upon admission to the English order), but there have been some exceptions: Lord Aberdeen - who had received the Thistle as long ago as 1808 - added the Garter the day after relinquishing office in 1855. Lord Rosebery was already a KG when he came to office in 1894 and received the Thistle upon retirement in 1895 and is unique in this respect, since no other subject who was already a Garter knight has received the latter honour.

Lady Companions of the Order of the Garter may prefix the title "Lady" before their christian and surname. Surely "Lady Margaret Thatcher" has a better - and familiar - ring to it than "that Baroness"?

Yours etc,

RICHARD RUTTER

London, SW3