Historically, Royal Orders have only been awarded to women — probably as an alternative to military-related hardware that was presented to the males of the family. Royal Orders are given privately as a thank you for support and dedication to the monarch and are worn at state occasions. The insignia of the Royal Order always incorporates a miniature portrait of the ruling monarch painted onto an oval of ivory, surrounded with diamonds, topped with a Tudor crown, and pinned onto a colored ribbon. In the UK, it has always been a different-color ribbon for every monarch, and the white one that the queen wears was bestowed upon her by her grandfather George V.
The rose-pink one that the queen wears was given by her father, George VI. Meanwhile, the queen's Royal Order is a shade of yellow officially known as "chartreuse" and worn by the likes of Princess Anne; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
