What is "lord high admiral"

Admiral \Ad"mi*ral\, n. [OE. amiral, admiral, OF. amiral, ultimately fr. Ar. am[=i]r-al-bahr commander of the sea; Ar. am[=i]r is commander, al is the Ar. article, and am[=i]r-al, heard in different titles, was taken as one word. Early forms of the word show confusion with L. admirabilis admirable, fr. admirari to admire. It is said to have been introduced into Europe by the Genoese or Venetians, in the 12th or 13th century. Cf. Ameer, Emir.]

1. A naval officer of the highest rank; a naval officer of high rank, of which there are different grades. The chief gradations in rank are admiral, vice admiral, and rear admiral. The admiral is the commander in chief of a fleet or of fleets.

2. The ship which carries the admiral; also, the most considerable ship of a fleet.

   Like some mighty admiral, dark and terrible, bearing down upon his antagonist with all his canvas straining to the wind, and all his thunders roaring from his broadsides.
   --E. Everett.

3. (Zo["o]l.) A handsome butterfly ( Pyrameis Atalanta) of Europe and America. The larva feeds on nettles.

   Admiral shell (Zo["o]l.), the popular name of an ornamental cone shell ( Conus admiralis).

   Lord High Admiral, a great officer of state, who (when this rare dignity is conferred) is at the head of the naval administration of Great Britain.

Lord High Admiral can refer to:

• Lord High Admiral (of England until 1707, of Great Britain until 1709, and of the United Kingdom from 1964 to date)
• Lord High Admiral of Scotland
• Lord High Admiral of the Wash
• Lord High Admiral of Sweden
• Lord High Admiral, Pimlico, London public house

The Lord High Admiral (of England, Great Britain and then the United Kingdom, beginning in the 15th century) is the titular head of the Royal Navy. Most have been courtiers or members of the Royal Family, and not professional naval officers. In medieval England the Lord High Admiral was one of the nine Great Officers of State.

From the 17th century onwards, when an individual Lord High Admiral was appointed, there was also a Council of the Lord High Admiral which assisted him and performed some of the duties of the Admiralty. When the office was not occupied by an individual, it was "put into commission" and exercised by a board of Lords Commissioners headed by a First Lord of the Admiralty, and this was the usual arrangement from 1709 until 1964, when the office of First Lord of the Admiralty was finally abolished and the functions of the Lords Commissioners were transferred to the Admiralty Board of the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom.

In 1964 the ancient title of Lord High Admiral was vested in the sovereign. In 2011, the title was bestowed by Elizabeth II onto her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, on the occasion of his 90th birthday.