New Zealand Says So Long to ‘Sir’
This country put knighthoods to the sword Monday, scrapping the use of the titles “Sir” and “Dame” in favor of a local system of honors.
But mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary and opera diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will retain their titles because the new measure does not strip current holders of their honors.
Prime Minister Helen Clark made the announcement that her Labor-led coalition was discontinuing the use of the titles in a break with the tradition according to which New Zealand’s head of state, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, has bestowed them.
Clark said the queen had “approved the recommendation of the government to discontinue” using the honorifics.
Most New Zealanders favor a distinctive New Zealand system, with awards based on merit rather than recognition by the government--although government recommendations for those to be named knights or dames also were based on public consultation.
Under the new system, the top honor will be the Order of New Zealand, which will be held by only 20 living people at any one time. The honor will entitle the holder to put the letters ONZ after his or her name but will not carry a title.
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