Royal Patron, Vice-Patrons and Honorary Fellows
Royal Patron: HRH The Princess Royal KG
In March 2025 HRH The Princess Royal accepted the Patronage of the Linnean Society. Her Royal Highness was made an Honorary Member of the Society in 2007 when she attended the Tercentenary celebration of the birth of Carl Linnaeus.
HRH The Princess Royal succeeds HM Queen Elizabeth II who was Patron of the Society from 1952 to 2022; prior to which she was an Honorary Member from 1947, representing a relationship with the Linnean Society of over 70 years.
Vice-Patrons
The Linnean Society’s Council may, from time to time, invite persons who champion and support the object of the Society to accept the role of Vice-Patron of the Society.
The role of Vice-Patron was established in November 2024 when the Society’s revised Charter and Bye-Laws became operational. Vice-Patrons were previously known as Honorary Members (HonMLS).
Notable Honorary Members have included the former Emperor of Japan, Hirohito, who was an Honorary Member from 1931 until his death in 1989.
Our current Vice-Patrons are:
His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is passionate about the environment, technology, agriculture, trade, and industry. He is a Patron of Friends of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, among others.
His Imperial Majesty The Emperor Emeritus of Japan is recognised as an ichthyologist.
HIH Prince Hitachi of Japan is recognised as a cell biologist who is involved in the comparative histology of human and lower vertebrate tumours. He is additionally Honorary Patron of the Japanese Association for the Protection of Birds.
Baroness Young of Old Scone is a member of the House of Lords and a passionate defender of nature and natural history. She is currently the Chancellor of Cranfield University, a position she has held since 2010. Since 2016, she has served as Chair of The Woodland Trust. She served as the chief executive of health charity Diabetes UK from 2011 to 2015. She was Chief Executive of the Environment Agency from 2000 to 2008, chair of the Care Quality Commission from 2008–2010, and previously chair of English Nature, vice chairman of the BBC, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and of a number of local health authorities. In 2017, she was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Sir David Attenborough is an English broadcaster, writer, naturalist, and probably one of the most recognisable faces and voices on television. He has written and narrated some of the iconic TV series on the state of our planet, including Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Blue Planet (2001), State of the Planet (2000) and Are We Changing Planet Earth? (2006), both of which dealt heavily with environmental issues such as climate change. More recently, Sir Attenborough narrated Our Planet (2019), a Netflix series. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020) was described as his “witness statement.” His most recent show is the five-part A Perfect Planet that debuted on BBC in 2021. Sir Attenborough is the recipient of numerous awards, including several BAFTA Awards and a Peabody Award in 2014. He was knighted in 1985.
Fellows 'Honoris causa' and Foreign Members
The Society recognises those who have made an excellent achievement in the advancement of the biological sciences.
Fellows honoris causa, HonFLS, shall not exceed twenty-five and be British subjects.
Foreign Members, FMLS, shall not exceed fifty. No British subject nor any person usually residing in any part of the United Kingdom shall be elected a Foreign Member.
Once proposed for election as Fellow honoris causa or Foreign Member, the name of the candidate must be read at two General Meetings preceding the Anniversary Meeting at which the third reading and election shall take place. Following election, the Fellow honoris causa or Foreign Member receives a Diploma in the Latin language over the Common Seal of the Society and signed by the President, Treasurer and Executive Secretary.
A Fellow honoris causa or Foreign Member will be entitled, without contribution, to the full privileges of a Fellow of the Society.
Fellows honoris causa:
The number of Fellows honoris causa shall not exceed twenty-five.
- Professor Emeritus John Allen
- Mrs Lynda Brooks
- Lord Cranbrook (Gathorne)
- Professor Laurence Martin Cook
- Professor David Cutler
- Dr Lewis Derrick
- Ms Georgina Lundy Douglas
- Dr Michael Fitton
- Professor Brian J Ford
- Mrs Susan Gove
- Dr Charles E Jarvis
- Dr Desmond Morris
- David P Taylor Pescod
- Dr Lisbet Rausing
- Dr Elizabeth Rollinson
- Dr John Sparks
- Professor Clive Anthony Stace
- Dr Vaughan Southgate OBE
- Dr Mark Watson
Foreign Members
The number of Foreign Members shall not exceed 50.
- Professor Wilhelm Barthlott
- Professor Angelika Brandt
- Professor Kåre Bremer
- Professor Mee-mann Chang
- Professor Sir Peter Crane FRS
- Professor Friedrich Ehrendorfer
- Dr Nelson Estrada
- Dr William Friedman
- Professor Else Marie Friis
- Professor Ib Friis
- Professor Peter Grant
- Professor Rosemary Grant
- Dr Frederick Hochberg
- Dr Per Magnus Jorgensen
- Professor H Walter Lack
- Dr Gareth Jon Nelson
- Professor Eviatar Nevo
- Professor Hugh E H Paterson
- Dr Peter Hamilton Raven
- Dr Oliver Cedric Rieppel
- Dr John P Rourke
- Professor J William Schopf
- Professor Erik Francois Smets
- Dr Dennis W Stevenson
- Professor Emeritus Helmut Zwolfer
