How does one get to be a knight?

There are several types of knighthood one can get, some of which the Queen can indeed give out freely.

Knights Bachelor are the most common type of knight, and is what is most often given out for charity work, being a celebrity, or giving lots of money to Tony Blair. These are created on the advice of the government.

The Order of the British Empire has two levels of Knights/Dames, in addition to other ranks that are not knighthoods. They are Knights/Dames Commander and Knights/Dames Grand Cross. These are primarily given out for the same reasons that Knights Bachelors get them, especially for women as there is no such thing as a Dame Bachelor. There is also a military division of this order, to be given to personnel for distinguished service.

The Order of St. Michael and St. George has 2 levels of knighthood and one other level. It is almost exclusively given out for diplomatic service. Many of the Queen's other realms (the Bahamas, Papua New Guinea, etc.) also award it to locals along with the Order of the British Empire. Recipients are chosen by the government.

The Order of the Bath another order with 2 types of knights/dames and one other rank. It is given out for work either in the civil service or to high-ranking officers in the military. Recipients are, again, chosen by the government.

The Royal Victorian Order is one of the orders the Queen is free to give out to whomever she pleases. It also has 2 levels of knighthood and 3 other ranks. It is primarily given to those who have performed personal service for her, such as those who work for her.

The Order of the Thistle only has one rank- Knight/Lady. The Queen can appoint up to 16 members, all of whom must be Scottish-born. The Queen also chooses whoever she wants for this Order.

The Order of the Garter is the English companion to the Order of the Thistle. It can have up to 25 members, but there is no restriction on where they are from. Some have even come from countries such as Australia and New Zealand. This is the highest-ranking Knighthood available, and is chosen solely by the Queen.

well, first you must be an english citizen. no foreigners can be so knighted. the queen, i believe, has a quota per year but i'm not sure how many she's allowed. this quota stems from just how many living , how many has died & the so-called replacements. there is a procedure to be follwed so if the queen likes to knight, say john doe of london, that john doe is investigated. there probably has to be a reason for doing so, as well. once upon a time ago, like maybe 100 years or more ago, yeah. the king/queen could knight & do what they wanted w/ or w/o say from any other quarters. parliment has little to say as this is a royal thing. today the monarchy is a symbolic thing, has limited powers. in fact, the queen has one real job that she must do once a year, every year in power.all other events are exigent and border on the peripherial. if she fails to do it, rest assured, she'd be out of business & out of power. know what it is? she does!

A person needs to perform some extraordinary service and be nominated for the honor.

Here's info from http://www.royal.gov/uk the official site of Buckingham Palace on the subject:

"Anybody in the UK can make a recommendation for a British national to receive an honour.

The aim is to ensure that the large numbers of people not in the public eye who give valuable service are recognised.

They could be charity volunteers, members of the emergency services or Armed Forces, industrial pioneers or specialists in various professions.

While The Queen is 'fountain of honour' in the United Kingdom, honours are actually awarded on the advice of the Cabinet Office.

For this reason, honours nominations are handled not by Buckingham Palace but by the Ceremonial Secretariat, part of the Cabinet Office.

In order to nominate someone, you should obtain a copy of the nominations form and read the guidance notes.

These can be downloaded and printed off from the Honours website of the Cabinet Office, or obtained through writing, telephoning or emailing the Cabinet Office for paper copies.

You can contact the Cabinet Office Ceremonial Secretariat at:

Ceremonial Secretariat

Cabinet Office

35 Great Smith Street

London SW1P 3BQ.

Tel: 0207 276 2777

Read more about the system and download a nomination form from www.honours.gov.uk. "

You have to do something great for the United Kingdom. In the old days, you had to work your way into becoming a knight throuh the military, now you have to do soemthing that impresses the Queen.

"Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentility, but is not nobility. In the High and Late Middle Ages, the principal duty of a knight was to fight as, and lead, heavy cavalry (see serjeanty); more recently, knighthood has become a symbolic title of honor given to a more diverse class of people, from mountain climber Edmund Hillary to musician Paul McCartney. By extension, "knight" is also used as a translation of the names of other honourable estates connected with horsemanship, especially from classical antiquity."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight

Ah! This question is one that many have asked throughout the ages. Well, I have just the answer you want! First and foremost, remember this quote from the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves:

"Nobility is not a birthright; it is defined by one's actions."

- Lord Locksley

If that doesn't satisfy your quest to become a knight, then please don't be fooled by all of those sites claiming that you can "become a noble" by paying money. You're just throwing money away to someone else.

Lastly, if you wish to become a British knight of some sort, you can go to this site:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Gtgl1/GuideToGovernmen...

If you are seeking to become a knight of some other kind from another nation/country, please feel free to contact me at EstonianJedi@yahoo.com I'll do my best to help you. After all, helping others is what true knighthood is all about.

Do a lot of good for humanity, or become buddy buddy with Prime Minister. It's not up to the Queen, she is given list by Government I believe

I think they have to have some sort of accomplishment to look good on the list. Only British citizens can be full knights but others have been honarary Knights due to some achievement.

Anybody can be a knight but only Brits can be called Sir, so Bob Geldorf has the letters behind his name but can not be correctly be called Sir because he's Irish.

You are a really special person already without any knighthood stuff so be happy with that rest so very unimportant and meaningless thank you

Wait 12, 24 hrs you will become night by default, by the way, what do you do during the daytime?