Can a women be knighted by the queen?

Question

Men throught out history has been knighted countless times by Kings and Queens. By being a modern society that Britain is now, can women be knighted? In fairy tales that I've heard a woman becomes a lady if the queen grants it. However is that equvilant to a males "knight"?

Answer 1

Women can be knighted and have been for some time.  A female knight is called "Dame," as in Dame Agatha Christie and, believe it or not, Dame Elizabeth Taylor.

Answer 2

yes

Answer 3

Women have been granted the title of Dame for quite a long time, now.  I`m not sure if they could always earn the title on their own, but if they participate in a "knighting" ceremony, that is their title.

Answer 4

Yes, a women can be knighted,  e.g: Dame Judy Delch

Answer 5

In Britain, women can be appointed to the same orders of knighthood as men, but are described as Dames.

Other European countries have orders of knighthood, but their approach may be different.

Answer 6

Women receive a dameship:

From http://www.royal.gov/uk/output/Page4877....

"A knighthood (or a damehood, its female equivalent) is one of the highest honours an individual in the United Kingdom can achieve."

A woman does not simply become a "lady,"she becomes a "Dame" in her own right."Lady" is what the spouse of knight may be styled,but a woman who has earned the honor on her own merits is styled "Dame" to differentiate her from a simple spouse of an honoree.

Answer 7

Damehood is the feminine equivalent of a "knighthood." Dame is the female equivalent of address to Sir for a British knighthood. In the UK honours system, this can be the title of a woman who has been awarded the Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Royal Victorian Order, or Order of the British Empire. Because there is no female equivalent of a Knight Bachelor, women deserving an honour of this rank are appointed Dames of the Order of the British Empire instead. Formerly, the wife of a knight was called a Dame, but this usage was replaced by "Lady" during the 17th century. Wives of knights, however, are entitled to the honorific "Lady" before their husband's surname. Husbands of Dames have no honorific until he received his own knighthood.