Praise for King Charles stripping UK international rugby player of MBE

Earlier this month, it was announced that Stuart Hogg, who captained Scotland being capped 100 times, was stripped of his MBE.

The 33-year-old was given a community payback order back in 2024 after pleading guilty to a domestic abuse charge.

It comes after King Charles stripped award-winning UK composer Jan Latham‑Koenig of his OBE in 2025.

READ MORE: Oxford University bidding to become major US research centre

Former Scotland rugby union captain Stuart Hogg has been stripped of his MBE. (Image: Jane Barlow / PA)

The London-born composer built an international career with posts at major opera houses and orchestras, and was known for his work with ensembles including the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Over the years, he has collected a string of honours, among them the Gulbenkian Fellowship and Russia’s Golden Mask award in 2014 for a production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to music and UK/Russia cultural relations.

Oxford city councillor Susanna Pressel has stated appropriate action is being taken in a statement issued to this newspaper.

READ MORE: Cotswolds estate up for sale at £26m after aristocrat’s death

Jan Latham‑Koenig. (Image: PA)

She said: “It’s good that people like this are having their honours taken away from them. I don’t think there is any way of preventing it from happening. It seems to be hard to predict who will do something wicked. I suppose it shows that there is good and bad in everyone.

“I certainly don’t think that the honours system should be scrapped. About 99 per cent of recipients thoroughly deserve to be recognised for the amazing and public-spirited things they have done for our society, and for helping to make the world a better place.”

Latham‑Koenig also appeared regularly in Oxford, including conducting the Oxford University Orchestra in an “Evening of Wagner” at the Sheldonian Theatre in Michaelmas 2019, and returning for other university‑linked concerts in the city.

In 2024, he admitted a series of child sex offences after sending sexual messages and an explicit image to an undercover police officer posing online as a 14‑year‑old boy, and was given a suspended prison sentence at Southwark Crown Court.

READ MORE: Police granted extra powers as officers descend on shopping centre

King Charles III. (Image: Temilade Adelaja/PA Wire)

On August 1, 2025, an official notice in The London Gazette confirmed the King had directed his OBE “shall be cancelled and annulled” and that his name be erased from the order’s register, formally removing the honour.

In Hogg’s case, he was banned from approaching or contacting his estranged wife, Gillian Hogg, for five years after he admitted a single charge of domestic abuse.

In November 2024, he admitted to shouting and swearing, tracking her movements, and sending her messages, which were alarming and distressing in nature.

Sheriff Peter Paterson sentenced Hogg to a community payback order with one year of supervision when he appeared at Selkirk Sheriff Court for sentencing in January last year.

He was also handed a five-year non-harassment order and was arrested again on Thursday, February 12, 2026, but released without charge.