When i was told that , i figured since the U grand lodge of england is the highest authority it was some sort or honary certificate from the "higher ups" lightly spoken.
The UGLE is not the "highest authority." While, due to its status as the mother Grand Lodge, it's given considerable deference in matters of recognition between Grand Lodges and so forth, it has no actual authority over any Lodges other than its own, and certainly none over any other Grand Lodges.
They can exert considerable influence through the process of recognition, in that having UGLE withdraw recognition of your Grand Lodge would be a terrible blow and would likely cause a LOT of other Grand Lodges to follow suit, but other Grand Lodges are not subordinate to UGLE.
