I can  tell you my side of the story. Which stills sticks in my throat. Duke Inman had a lot to do with the formation of the order. He lives a couple of blocks from me. Even though the order is suppose to have been started by the Roses. I and many of the Central Roses at the time were not asked or opinion on the Order. Of Course Duke Inman knew my opinion. I believe in the Order of Chivalry in the SCA and especially in this Kingdom. I do not and did not believe we needed the order. In other kingdom these orders did not work out to well. The unanimous polling requirement leads to a closed order. I do believe that there are Knights in the circle  that deserve to be spotlighted as very good Knights. I just don't believe that the polling members should be the people in the Order. I believe the whole Chivalry should select the Candidates with a 3/4 vote. I was especially upset at the Order because it was for  only Knights to start off  with. When the Order got announced and I knew nothing about it I was upset. His Grace, Duke Inman came over to explain it to me and try to get Duke Jonathan  to be one of the first members. His Grace started off telling Master Jonathan that to get in the order he would have to be a knight. This didn''t sit to well. Then he told his Grace that this was a porch to retire to overlooking the sea. I didn't want my husband to retire as an active member of the Order of the Chivalry. He and I both believe in the equality of the Peers circles.  We are all  bothers and sisters. Then His Grace look at me and stated, " Our Ladies love us and want us to have this award." This made me mad in two ways. The first is obvious. I love my husband. The second really bothered me. The way he said it made me think of the Ladies of the Rose giving things to their Lords. That just didn't feel right. His Grace, Duke Inman wasn't he usually smooth talking self that evening.
I have never been present when a Lady of the Rose talked about putting someones name for the Order. They know my feelings and maybe are just being courteous? I know the gentlemen of the Order and have high regards for all of them, but I am still uncomfortable about the selection process and would like to see more simple Knights in the order. 
I know many members of the populace were unhappy about the order. I have even heard the Tired old Duke Club song. Something about sitting on their garlands. Many people believe that the upper nobility has enough and we don't need more. Since I can't get this order I will disagree. For many of our knight have a secret dream-- they would really like to be in a Order like the Order of the Garter. I believe that the reason these special Orders are formed in so many kingdoms is because secret dream. I think it is a good dream. In a way we have a kind of Order that carries the same kind of respect as the Order of the Garter. It is the Lions of Ansteorra. Going back to the candidate process  only if the people of the kingdom truly believe in the system that picks the candidate will the people give the Order the respect that the founders wanted it to have. I think the people should select the candidates and the Crown should select from the candidates. I would like it to be open to all the Chivalry. I would also like the other peerage to have something. I have seen individuals put 15 plus years serving the kingdom as good peers. I think it would be nice for the populace to have a way to spotlight people that truly do a good job as a proper peer. 
The strange thing is I believe that I should never be a candidate and most of us that have been crowns should not be. The buck stops with the Crown and most of us have had to do things that were less then kind and gracious. I have been an ass more than once. Most of the time for good and just reasons. I view my job as a royal peer to sometimes be an ass so others don't have to be. It is the job of the noble to protect the honor and nobility of the people. 
Willow