women, who were not princely rulers, could not be members of the order. they were, admitted as "knights", rather than as "dames" or "ladies". the first woman to be admitted to the order was hh nawab sikandar begum sahiba, nawab begum of bhopal; she was created a knight companion at the order's foundation in 1861. the order's statutes were specially amended to permit the admission of queen mary as a knight grand commander in 1911.