Order of the Bath service 2025
The Service and Ceremony of the Installation of Knights Grand Cross of the Order will be held at Westminster Abbey on Friday 16th May 2025.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath was established as a military order by Letters Patent of George I on 18 May 1725, when the Dean of Westminster was made Dean of the Order in perpetuity and King Henry VII's Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey designated as the Chapel of the Order.
However, the Order was a revival of an older custom going back to medieval times when part of the ceremony of knighthood included a ritual bath symbolic of spiritual purification and a vigil the night before receiving the honour.
Today, recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants.
This year's service falls in the Order's 300th anniversary year.
Attendance
Attendance at the service is by invitation only.
