All the celebrities who refused or returned honours from the Royal Family

Former PM Gordon Brown, subpostmaster Alan Bates, and actress Imelda Staunton are among those named in the King’s Birthday Honours for 2024.

Brown received a Companion of Honour, Staunton was made a Dame, while Bates was knighted, becoming Sir Alan Bates after working tirelessly to secure justice for those wrongly accused of stealing money from the Post Office.

Other recipients include Strictly Come Dancing icon Amy Dowden, Countdown long-timer Susie Dent, TV writer Armando Iannucci, former footballers Graeme Souness and Karen Carney, and Duran Duran singer and songwriter Simon Le Bon.

But down the years, several celebrities have turned down the esteemed honours offered to them, and for a number of reasons.

Whether they felt as though they didn’t deserve the honours, or because they held anti-monarchist beliefs, several big showbiz names have said ‘No’ when presented with the Queen’s or King’s birthday honours.

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Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming received an OBE in 2009, saying he was ‘incredibly grateful’ to be honoured for services to acting and the work he does for LGBT rights in the US.

But 14 years later, in early 2023, Alan announced he would be handing his honour back, saying he had ‘opened his eyes’ to the ‘toxicity’ of the British Empire.

He said in a statement: ‘I was incredibly grateful to receive it in the 2009 Queen’s birthday honours list, for it was awarded not just for my job as an actor but for activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA.’

But, he added: ‘The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes.’

‘So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place. I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again.’

Michael Sheen

Much like Alan Cumming, Michael Sheen was also awarded an OBE in 2009. However, he too gave his OBE back after consideration in later years.

At the time, Michael said that he believed his home nation of Wales should be independent from the United Kingdom and that he disagreed with Prince William being made the Prince of Wales.

He told political writer and pundit Owen Jones: ‘I [researched] a lot about Welsh history. I’m still standing at the foothills of an understanding of all that, but that was a crash course.

‘I remember sitting there going, “Well, I have a choice. I either don’t give this lecture and hold on to my OBE or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back”. I wanted to still give the lecture so I gave my OBE back.’

He insisted that handing the award back hadn’t meant to be rude or disrespectful, and that he was ‘incredibly honoured’ to have received his OBE in the first place.

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders

Comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders were bothered offered OBEs in 2001 for their services to comedy and drama.

However, the pair turned the honours down, with Jennifer later explaining: ‘If I felt I deserved a damehood I’d accept it. At the time, we felt that we were being paid very well to have a lot of fun. It didn’t seem right somehow.’

She continued: ‘We didn’t deserve a pat on the back. It felt a bit fake to stand alongside people who devoted their lives to truly worthy causes.’

David Bowie

Before his death in 2016, David Bowie turned down not one but two honours from the Queen – first a CBE in 2000, then a knighthood in 2003.

Speaking to The Sun in the aftermath, he told them: ‘I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don’t know what it’s for. 

He also spoke about Sir Mick Jagger accepting a knighthood: ‘It’s not what I spent my life working for. It’s not my place to make a judgement on [Mick] Jagger, it’s his decision. But it’s just not for me.’

Living in the USA at the time, Bowie chose not to express his views on the monarchy.

George Harrison

In 1997, George Harrison’s fellow Beatles bandmate Sir Paul McCartney accepted a knighthood, while Harrison rejected an OBE he was given.

Harrison died a year later from complications with cancer at the age of 58. In 2018, Sir Ringo Starr accepted his knighthood, becoming the second Beatle to receive such an honour.

Ray Connolly, a journalist who knew The Beatles at points during their career, told the Mail: ‘Whoever decided to offer [Harrison] the OBE and not the knighthood was extraordinarily insensitive. He would have felt insulted.’

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson has spent years endearing herself to the public thanks to her brilliant recipes and her brilliant pronunciation of the word ‘microwave’.

However, she wasn’t interested in accepting an OBE in 2001, turning down the offer and giving an explanation similar to Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

She said at the time: ‘I’m not saving lives and I’m not doing anything other than something I absolutely love.’

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