Some Would-Be Knights Saying, No Thanks, Sir!

Sir Mick Jagger was delighted to become a knight. Keith Richards called it a disgrace. As with the Rolling Stones, so with British society: Some crave titles, some refuse them, some consider it all a joke.

Still others, like Winston Churchill, change their minds -- perhaps when later offered a higher rank or from a government more to their taste.

The Sunday Times recently published a list of 300 people -- including singer David Bowie, comedian John Cleese and actors Albert Finney and Kenneth Branagh -- who have declined honors since 1945.

About 2% of the 3,000 people chosen each year decline, according to the government. Most do so quietly, but last month poet Benjamin Zephaniah publicly rejected an OBE -- Officer of the Order of the British Empire -- because the title reminded him of “thousands of years of brutality.”

“Stick it, Mr. Blair and Mrs. Queen, stop going on about empire,” he wrote in the Guardian newspaper.

After the list was published, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government promised to make the system of awarding knighthoods and other honors more open.

Twice a year, the government announces recipients of a host of titles, from knighthoods and damehoods to Companions of Honor, for exceptional achievement or service to the nation.

Though the honors are bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II, most recipients are chosen by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public.

The government wants to increase diversity on the selection committees -- currently largely white, male and over 60 -- and among recipients. Government statistics show that between 2% and 4% of the top honors go to ethic minorities, who make up about 8% of the population.

But some lawmakers are calling for a bigger overhaul.

“I think they are decided on a whim; I think they are capricious,” said Labor Party lawmaker Gordon Prentice. “I just think it is time to get rid of all these ridiculous gradations. We need an open, simple, transparent system. The whole system really needs shaking up.”

The Cabinet Office said all decisions about honors were made “entirely on merit.”

However, one leaked document revealed that tennis star Tim Henman was being recommended for an OBE to “add interest” to the list.

When the New Year’s Honors are announced this week, Henman will be in the no-win situation of being revealed as considered but rejected, or given an honor for dubious reasons.

A prominent scientist, Colin Blakemore, threatened to resign as head of the Medical Research Council in the wake of reports that he was excluded from a knighthood because he is a vocal proponent of research on animals.

Although rockers including Jagger, Elton John and Paul McCartney have been happy to accept knighthoods, many celebrities have quietly refused.

Rolling Stones guitarist Richards -- who apparently has not been offered an award -- criticized Jagger for accepting the “paltry honor.”

Bowie turned down a CBE -- Commander of the British Empire -- and was quoted as saying he would never accept a knighthood. “I seriously don’t know what it’s for,” he said.

Writer J.G. Ballard, whose novels include “Crash” and “Empire of the Sun,” said he declined a CBE for services to literature.

“I am opposed to the honors system. The whole thing is a preposterous charade,” he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times.

A parliamentary committee has indicated it will look into the leaking of the list to the newspaper, according to the BBC.

Grumbling over titles is nothing new.

In the 13th century, when knights were expected to do military service, so many men declined the honor that King Henry III began imposing fines on those who refused, according to Debrett’s Peerage & Baronetage.