Royal Navy commissioning from the lower deck did not use a fixed quota

Did holding the Queen's commission mark someone as upper-middle or upper class?

Historically it carried that association, but officers also came from rating backgrounds; the Royal Navy sometimes exceeded the French Navy's minimum intake from the ranks without using a fixed quota.

Holding the monarch's commission historically carried an association with higher social standing. Recruitment from rating backgrounds complicates that association. The French Navy maintained a traditional minimum for officers drawn from the ranks, while the Royal Navy had no equivalent minimum. Royal Navy numbers varied, and in some years exceeded the French minimum. The criticism of the French arrangement is that its minimum often also became its practical maximum.