Former Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg stripped of MBE

Former Scotland rugby union captain Stuart Hogg has been stripped of his MBE, according to an official notice in The Gazette.

It comes more than a year after the ex-Glasgow Warriors and Exeter Chiefs star pleaded guilty to a single charge of domestic abuse involving his then estranged wife, Gillian, between 2019 and 2024. He admitted shouting and swearing, tracking her movements and sending her messages which were alarming and distressing in nature.

At his sentencing in January 2025, Hogg was handed a community payback order with one year of supervision and a five-year non-harassment order. He was earlier fined £600 for breaching bail conditions by repeatedly contacting his ex when prohibited from doing so.

Hogg, 33, was made an MBE for services to the sport in the 2024 New Year Honours list. However, a notice in The Gazette - the official public record - said that would now be "cancelled and annulled".

The full 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." Hogg made his Scotland debut in 2012 and went on to make 100 appearances for his country. He also made appearances for the British and Irish Lions.

The fullback currently plays for French side Montpellier. During court proceedings, Sheriff Peter Paterson heard how Hogg berated his then wife for "not being fun" after going on drinking binges with his colleagues, and once sent more than 200 text messages to her in the space of a few hours which caused her to suffer a panic attack.

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