Former Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg has been stripped of his MBE, with King Charles III ordering for the shamed full-back’s honour to be officially “cancelled and annulled”.
In November 2024, the Montpellier back pleaded guilty to a single charge of domestic abuse of his ex-wife Gillian over a five-year period, with a court hearing him admit to shouting and swearing at his former partner, tracking her movements and sending her messages which were alarming and distressing in nature.
Hogg escaped jail but was sentenced to a community payback order (CPO) with one year of supervision, while he was also banned from approaching or contacting Gillian for five years.
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In the wake of his conviction, there were widespread calls for the former Scotland international to lose the MBE he was awarded in the 2024 New Year Honours list for services to rugby, with Scottish First Minister John Swinney saying such calls were “reasonable and understandable”.
At the time, the SNP’s Commons leader Stephen Flynn said officials were “firmly on the case” of stripping the former Scotland skipper of the honour.
But he still had it over a year on from his conviction, something which Glasgow Women’s Aid described as “deeply troubling” earlier this year.
However, Hogg has now officially lost his MBE, with an official notice published in The Gazette on Thursday featuring his name alongside other people who have also had their honours taken away.
The notice reads: “The King has directed that the appointment of Stuart William Hogg to be a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated 30 December 2023 shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.”
It comes after Hogg admitted there was “no chance that Scottish rugby wants anything to do with me” following his off-field actions in recent years, despite believing he could still offer something to the current Scotland team.
“I’ve retired completely from international rugby and I’ve always said that if I felt I could be of use to Scotland, then I would be,” he said in a translated interview with French publication Actu Rugby.
“But I haven’t had any communication from anyone within Scottish rugby. And I doubt that will ever change.
“With everything that’s happened to me off the field over the last two years, there’s no chance that Scottish rugby wants anything to do with me.
“Do I believe I could still be useful to this Scotland team?,” he added. “Yes, 100%.”
