The New Year Honours 1961 were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, which type of location is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms?
1961 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1961 were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 31 December 1960 in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, and Rhodesia and Nyasaland to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1961.
Figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a person who holds "de jure" (in name or by law) an important title or office (often supremely powerful), yet "de facto" (in reality) executes little actual power. The metaphor derives from the carved figurehead at the prow of a sailing ship. Commonly cited figureheads include Queen Elizabeth II, who is Queen of sixteen Commonwealth realms and head of the Commonwealth, but has no power over the nations in which she is not head of state and does not exercise power in her own realms on her own initiative. Other figureheads are the Emperor of Japan, the King of Sweden, or presidents in majority of parliamentary republics, such as the President of India, President of Israel, President of Bangladesh, President of Greece, President of Germany, President of Pakistan, and President of China (when not simultaneously holding the CPC General Secretary and Chairman of CMC posts).