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.
Honorary Fellows
Through the award of Honorary Fellowships the Society recognises those who have made significant contributions to the furtherance of the Society’s object - namely, the cultivation of the science of natural history in all its branches.
Honorary Fellows (Hon FLS) are limited to 75 in number and nominated by the Society’s Council for election by the Society’s Fellowship. The role of Honorary Fellow was established in May 2025 following the Society’s revised Charter and Bye-Laws becoming operational in November 2024. Honorary Fellows were previously known as Fellows honoris causa (HonFLS) for British subjects, or Foreign Members (FMLS) for non-British subjects.
To learn more about proposing a new Honorary Fellow, please consult the Society’s governing documents (Bye-Law 6 and Standing Order 14).
Our current Honorary Fellows are:
- Professor Wilhelm Barthlott
- Professor Angelika Brandt
- Professor Kåre Bremer
- Mrs Lynda Brooks
- Professor Mee-mann Chang
- Professor Laurence Martin Cook
- Lord Cranbrook (Gathorne)
- Professor Sir Peter Crane FRS
- Professor David Cutler
- Dr Lewis Derrick
- Ms Georgina Lundy Douglas
- Dr Nelson Estrada
- Dr Michael Fitton
- Professor Brian J Ford
- Dr William Friedman
- Professor Else Marie Friis
- Professor Ib Friis
- Mrs Susan Gove
- Professor Peter Grant
- Professor Rosemary Grant
- Dr Charles E Jarvis
- Dr Per Magnus Jorgensen
- Professor H Walter Lack
- Dr Desmond Morris
- Dr Gareth Jon Nelson
- Professor Eviatar Nevo
- David P Taylor Pescod
- Dr Lisbet Rausing
- Dr Peter Hamilton Raven
- Dr Oliver Cedric Rieppel
- Dr Elizabeth Rollinson
- Dr John P Rourke
- Professor J William Schopf
- Professor Erik Francois Smets
- Dr Vaughan Southgate OBE
- Dr John Sparks
- Professor Clive Anthony Stace
- Dr Dennis W Stevenson
- Dr Mark Watson
- Professor Emeritus Helmut Zwolfer
