Order of the Garter, the carved and gilded Royal Crowns, Coronets and Knights Crests carved by Ian Brennan.

Lady Soames LG - (Coronet): Lord Bingham of Corhill KG (Griffin): Sir John Major KG (Stag) --- the Royal Crests for HRH Prince Edward The Earl of Wessex and HRH Prince Andrew The Duke of York --- Sir Thomas Dunne (snakes) : HRH Prince William: Lord Luce. (swan)

Three Knights of the Garter Crests alongside four Knight of the Bath Crest awaiting delivery to Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey

A small selection of the thirty nine Knights of the Garter Crowns, Coronets and Crests carved by Ian G Brennan placed upon the Knights Helmets in St George's Chapel Windsor.

Each of these Royal Crown, Coronet or Knights Crest can take Ian between two and six weeks to produce and are mostly carved from lime wood which Ian then paints and gilds, the sizes range from between 12 - 28 inches high. The Royal Crowns and Coronets are carved with gilded rims set with carved and gilded jewels, or when appropriate for Sovereigns the jewels are coloured. The golden arches Ian makes for many of the different Sovereigns Crowns are fitted with rows of large white or silver carved wooden ‘pearls’ which are placed above either open Crowns or above a carved crimson caps.

On 23 April in 2006, St George's day; HRH Prince Andrew The Duke of York and Prince Edward The Earl of Wessex were both made Royal Knights of the Garter by Her Majesty the Queen. The Duke of York and Prince Edward The Earl of Wessex were both appointed to this the most senior British order of chivalry amid a weekend of celebrations to mark Her Majesties 80th birthday. This high honour recognises their seniority with the Royal Family and join their father HRH Prince Philip, their brother HRH The Prince of Wales and sister The Princess Royal and more recently in 2008 HRH Prince William of Walesin the Order.

Crest for HRH Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex - Crest for HRH Prince Andrew the Duke of York - The Duke of York’s Crest placed in position in St George’s Chapel.

The Royal Crests for The Duke of York and The Earl of Wessex which Ian carved during 2006 were then placed above the Royal Knights stalls in St George's Chapel Windsor Castle. To distinguish the two Princess crests each of the central points on the white labels around the Lions necks have there own individual design; an anchor for The Duke of York and the Tudor rose for The Earl of Wessex .

HRH Prince William’s Royal Crest – The Prince’s Crest and Sword in St Georges Chapel Windsor – the small red escallop.

HRH Prince William’s Royal Crest and Sword made by Ian G Brennan now placed upon the Prince’s helmet in St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle. As the second in line to the British throne; Prince William of Wales like his father the Prince of Wales, also uses a white label of three points but in addition on the lion is a small carved red ‘escallop’ to honour the memory of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales. The decision for Prince William to recognise his mother this way is a break with tradition as it is highly unusual for members of the Royal Family to include maternal symbols in their heraldic emblems.

H.R.H the Princess Royal, G.C.V.O. F.R.S Lady of the Order of the Garter	H.M Juan Carlos I, King of Spain	H.M Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands
H.R.H The Duke of Gloucester, K.G, G.C.V.O	His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan	The Lord Kingsdown, K.G, P.C
Sir William Gladstone KG	Sir Edward Heath KG, M.B.E	The Lord Sainsbury, K.G
Lord Leverhulme KG	Field Marshal Lord Inge, KG	The Duke of Abercorn, K.G
Sir Ninian Stephen, K.G, P.C	Sir Edmund Hillary, K.G, O.N.Z, K.B.E	Sir Timothy Colman K.G
Margaret, Baroness Thatcher LG, O.M, F.R.S, P.C	The Duke of Devonshire, K.G, M.C .P.C	Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk L.G. C.B.E
The Duke of Wellington KG, L.V.O, O.B.E, M.C	The Lord Ashburton K.G, K.C.V.O	Field Marshal Lord Bramall K.G, G.C.B, O.B.E, M.C.
HRH The Princess Alexandra. LG	The Viscount Ridley K.G, G.C.V.O, T.D	Lady Soames LG
The Duke of Westminster, KG	The Right Honourable Lord Butler of Brockwell, KG	The Right Honourable Lord Morris of Aberavon, KG
Lord Bingham of Corhill KG	Sir Antony Acland, KG	Sir John Major KG
Sir Thomas Dunne	Lord Luce	HRH Prince William
Baroness Manningham-Buller	Lord Stirrup	Lord King of Lothbury
HRH Prince Andrew; The Duke of York	HRH Prince Edward; The Earl of Wessex	Lord Shuttleworth
Sir David Brewer	Admiral Lord Boyce	Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers
Lady Mary Fagan Garter Crest	Lord Brookeborough	King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
King Felipe V1 of Spain	The Marquess of Salisbury	Lady Mary Peters
The Duchess of Cornwell

Ian in his studio working on the Crown for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and King Juan Carlos’s Son, King Felipe V1 of Spain in 1989. Both Crowns were then placed in position in St George’s Chapel Windsor.

Once the swords were carved they were then painted and gilded, Ian then spent several hours aging the swords so they would blend in with the other swords in the Chapel which were originally produced in the Middle Ages.

When Ian was carving Prince Williams sword, he was also carving a the sculpture of HMS Victory from original oak removed from the lower gun deck of HMS Victory; so he decided to set into the hilt of the Prince’s sword a piece of original Victory oak from Lord Nelson’s Flagship, as Prince William being second in line to the British Throne; the future King of England will one day also be the Head of the Senior Service; The Royal Navy.

Prince William’s royal crest design on the royal coat of arms drawing shows the royal lion standing upon the top of an open ducal coronet, which as a drawing works very well, unfortunately the difficulties in producing exactly as originally designed, a three dimensional version with the lion standing around the top of the coronet has always been a problem since the middle ages as it is not possible to carve a lion in three dimensions in the correct pose, which would enable all four of the lions legs to fit on the top of the coronet; so many different solutions have been tried over the centuries without much real success. Compromises were made, such as the lion standing inside the open coronet; as for the Duke of Gloucester shown below and also the Lion straddled across the top of the coronet as with the royal crest for the Duke of Windsor.

The Duke of Gloucester Royal Crest The Duke of Windsor Royal Crest Prince Williams Royal Crest

When Ian was commissioned in 2006 to carve Prince Andrew and Prince Edward’s royal crest this long standing problem creating a lion sculpture standing around the top of the coronet once again materialise, so Ian suggested that he could set a thin ‘pole’ in the middle of the coronet for one of the lions legs to rest on, as this gilded pole would not be seen when viewed from below in the Chapel. This idea was approved for both Princes royal crests and two years later Ian used the same technique when he was commissioned to create Prince Williams’s royal crest.

The Coronet and Crests for; Lady Soames LG - Lord Bingham of Corhill KG ; and Sir John Major KG now in position in St George's Chapel Windsor Castle

For a panoramic view of many of the 39 Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests created by Ian G Brennan between 1989 and 2009 commissioned for the Royal Knights, Knights and Ladies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in St Georges’s Chapel Windsor Castle. Please click here.

On occasions Ian is also asked to replace damaged or missing carving on some of the older historic Crowns and Crests. Below are a selection of these Garter Crests and Royal Crowns originally made during the middle of the last century, recently restored by Ian.

POSITION OF THE GARTER CRESTS IN THE CHOIR IN ST GEORGE'S CHAPEL DURING 2007