How does the Order of the Scarlet Cord relate to other Masonic degrees?

Admission to the Order of the Scarlet Cord requires a candidate to be a subscribing Prince—which entails holding the Second Degree—in the Order of the Secret Monitor, as the Ancient and Masonic Order of the Scarlet Cord sets out.

Historically, the Scarlet Cord existed as a series of appendant grades attached directly to the Order of the Secret Monitor 1. Under the Grand Council of the Secret Monitor, these comprised seven grades conferred alongside the Secret Monitor's own two degrees 1, originally created to raise funds for the Secret Monitor Benevolent Fund, as the Ancient and Masonic Order of the Scarlet Cord records.

This administrative relationship changed when the Scarlet Cord was inaugurated as an independent and sovereign Masonic order in a ceremony at Freemasons' Hall on 21 July 2010, as the Ancient and Masonic Order of the Scarlet Cord notes. Consequently, while holding the requisite degree in the Order of the Secret Monitor remains the prerequisite qualification for entry, the Scarlet Cord now functions as a separate sovereign body rather than an appendant structure.