Celebrities who've turned down or returned New Year Honours
As the latest New Year Honours are revealed, a reminder of the famous faces who turned down or returned knighthoods, OBEs and MBEs – or even had them removed.
Actor Stephen Fry, former England manager Gareth Southgate and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan are among those to be knighted in the 2025 New Year Honours.
Honours have also gone to a host of Team GB athletes, including runner Keely Hodgkinson, who was named the 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and mountain biker Tom Pidcock, after the Paris Olympics.
Also making the list are people who campaigned on behalf of subpostmasters wrongly convicted amid the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.
Meanwhile the youngest recipients, both 18, are Mikayla Beames, awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her fundraising efforts supporting children with cancer, and para-swimmer William Ellard, made an MBE after winning gold in the S14 200m freestyle at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
More than 1,200 people from across the UK received honours in the latest list, which prime minister Sir Keir Starmer says represents "the very best of the UK" and celebrates people who "do extraordinary things for their communities".
Actor Stephen Fry, 67, known for BBC comedy Blackadder and hosting quiz show QI, receives a knighthood in recognition for services to mental health awareness, the environment and to charity.
Sir Stephen said he felt "startled and enchanted" after receiving the letter informing him of his knighthood, and thought it was "wonderful" to see the charities get recognition, adding: “When you are recognised it does make you feel a bit ‘crikey’."
Not everyone has been so enthused in past years about receiving an honour, however, with a several noteworthy figures either rejecting them, or handing them back, for reasons ranging from modesty to the honours system's association with the British Empire.
Who has returned their honours?
Alan Cumming
Scottish actor Alan Cumming, 59, handed back his Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) Honour in January 2023 over what he described as his "misgivings" with being associated with the "toxicity" of the British Empire.
He was made an OBE in the 2009 Queen’s Birthday Honours for his work as an actor, as well as his campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights in the USA.
At the time Cumming said he was "shocked and delighted" to receive the honour, but following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he had a change of heart and decided to revoke it.
In an Instagram post, he wrote: “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."
Michael Sheen
Welsh actor Michael Sheen said he handed back his OBE in 2017 so he could air his views about the monarchy without being a “hypocrite”.
Sheen, 55, said the decision had been prompted by researching the history of his native Wales and its relationship with the British state for his 2017 Raymond Williams lecture.
In an interview with columnist Owen Jones in 2020, he said that after researching Welsh history in preparation for the lecture, he remembered thinking, "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."
Sheen, from Port Talbot, pointed to points of contention in Wales and England's shared history, such as an Englishman being named the Prince of Wales, adding: “These things have power... These are things that happened so long ago but these things are resonant.”
Sheen, who has portrayed famous faces on screen including Tony Blair and Sir David Frost, was made an OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours for his services to drama.
John Lennon
All four Beatles received MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1965 for their services to British industry, having brought in millions into the country with their records.
There was some criticism at the time from people who thought giving the honour to a mere "pop group" devalued the title, Radio X writes, to which guitarist and vocalist John Lennon said: “They got them for killing people. We got ours for entertaining. I’d say we deserve ours more.”
However, in 1969 Lennon declared he was returning his MBE in a letter to the Queen, which read: "I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing [civil war], against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With love. John Lennon of Bag."
Who has refused British honours?
Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders
In 2001, TV comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders were each offered OBEs to services for comedy and drama, and turned them down.
Explaining two decades later why she refused the honour, the 66-year-old Absolutely Fabulous star Saunders told Best magazine: "We thought, 'there's a lot of people who deserve these things' and for us to get it sort of made it a mockery. There are people who work for the NHS or do great charity work and we hadn't really done anything. It was silly."
Saunders had previously said accepting an OBE would have felt "fake", telling Source magazine in 2008: "At the time, we felt that we were being paid very well to have a lot of fun. It felt a bit fake to stand alongside people who devoted their lives to truly worthy causes."
David Bowie
David Bowie has turned down honours on two occasions – once in 2000 when he was offered a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) Honour, and again in 2003 when offered a knighthood.
The English singer-songwriter told the Sun: "I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don't know what it's for. It's not what I spent my life working for."
Pressed on whether he was "anti-monarchy", Bowie said: "I'd only have a serious answer to that if I was living in this country."
George Harrison
In 2000, Beatles singer and lead guitarist George Harrison rejected an OBE.
It isn't clear exactly why he turned it down, but Ray Connelly, a friend of the Beatles, told the Liverpool Echo how Harrison "would have felt insulted" that bassist Paul McCartney was given a knighthood three years earlier.
Roald Dahl
Children's author Roald Dahl turned down an OBE in 1986, primarily because he was holding out for a knighthood, according to drafting services consultancy Awards Intelligence.
The writer died without any honours in 1990, aged 74.
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock, turned down a CBE in 1962, because, in his view, it did not do justice to his contribution to British culture, the Daily Mail reported.
However, the Psycho and the Birds director did accept a knighthood just four months before his death in 1980.
Nigella Lawson
When TV chef Nigella Lawson passed on an OBE in 2001, she said at the time: "I'm not saving lives and I'm not doing anything other than something I absolutely love."
Stephen Hawking
English theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking was reportedly offered a knighthood in the 1990s, but turned it down.
In 2008, when asked about his name not being on the Queen's Birthday Honours list, his spokesman told the Telegraph: "Prof Hawking does not like titles. In fact he dislikes the whole concept of them."
Hawking was believed to have turned down the initial offer of a knighthood over the government's science funding policy.
Paul Weller
Musician Paul Weller rejected a CBE in 2006, with a spokesperson saying at the time: “Paul was surprised and flattered but it wasn’t really for him.”
John Cleese
Monty Python and Fawlty Towers star John Cleese has turned down multiple honours during his career.
He first rejected a CBE in 1996, calling them "silly" and then said no to a peerage by the late Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown three years later.
In 2011 he told the Sunday Telegraph: "Paddy was going to offer me one when he ceased to be leader of the Lib Dems, for political services – not because I was such a wonderful human being, and because I'd helped them [the Lib Dems] a lot.
"But I realised this involved being in England in the winter and I thought that was too much of a price to pay."
Jon Snow
Explaining why he rejected an OBE in 2000 in a documentary two years later called Secrets of the Honours System, Jon Snow said: “I tried to find out why I’d been given it and was unable to get a clear answer or, indeed, to find out who had proposed me."
The veteran journalist and Channel 4 News presenter has also criticised the use of the term "empire" in the honours system.
Benjamin Zephaniah
Prolific poet and anti-colonial activist Benjamin Zephaniah turned down an OBE in 2003, seemingly because he was uncomfortable with becoming an Officer of the British Empire .
That year, he told the Guardian: "Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word 'empire'; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised."
"It is because of this idea of empire that black people like myself don't even know our true names or our true historical culture."
Who has had their honours taken away?
Honours can be withdrawn, or "forfeited" for a variety of reasons, including criminal conviction and bringing the honours system into disrepute. Here are some big names who have had their honours taken away.
Paula Vennells
As anger grew over the Horizon IT scandal, former Post Office head Paula Vennells said in January that she would hand back her CBE, awarded in 2019 "for services to the Post Office and to charity".
In a statement, she said: "I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence.
“I am, however, aware of the calls from sub-postmasters and others to return my CBE. I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect."
However, in February, the Cabinet Office said she had been stripped of the CBE for "bringing the honours system into disrepute".
Jimmy Saville
Faced with calls for entertainer Jimmy Saville to be stripped of his knighthood as details of prolific sexual abuse emerged after his death, the Honours Forfeiture Committee said: "It's a living order and then you cease to be a member when you die."
Only living individuals are able to forfeit their honour, and it is not possible to withdraw one from someone who is died, the Cabinet Office says.
However, in 2021, the Honours Forfeiture Committee said Saville would have been stripped of his knighthood had he been convicted in his lifetime.
Rolf Harris
Musician, TV presenter and artist Rolf Harris was stripped of his CBE in 2015, a year after he was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.
He was convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault on four female victims, who were aged between eight and 19 during the offences between the 1960s and 1980s.
Harris was appointed an MBE in 1968, then advanced to OBE in 1977 and then to Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006, but his CBE was revoked in March 2015. Harris died in May 2023.
Harvey Weinstein
Former movie mogul and sex offender Harvey Weinstein was stripped of his honorary CBE in September 2020 after he was convicted in February of that year of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Weinstein was awarded the CBE in April 2004 in recognition of his contribution to the British film industry.
In February 2023, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for further convictions of rape and sexual abuse.
'Prince' Naseem Hamed
Former boxer Naseem Hamed was stripped of his MBE in December 2006 after being convicted of dangerous driving.
In May of that year, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison after he crashed his McLaren-Mercedes SLR head on into another vehicle, seriously injuring another driver.
Hamed, who was awarded the MBE in 1999 for services to boxing, served 16 weeks in prison.
Stuart Hall
Broadcaster Stuart Hall had his OBE revoked in 2013 following his conviction for child sex offences.
The former It's A Knockout presenter, was honoured in 2012 for services to broadcasting and charity.
He was jailed for 30 months after admitting 14 charges of indecent assault between 1967 and 1985, and released in 2015 after serving half of his sentence.
Lester Piggott
Renowned jockey Lester Piggott was stripped of his OBE after he was convicted of tax fraud in 1987.
He was sentenced to three years in prison and eventually served 366 days, resulting in the revoking of his OBE, which he had been awarded in 1975.
Wiley
Grime artist Wiley, who was awarded an MBE for services to music in 2017, was stripped of the honour in 2024 over anti-semitic comments on social media.
The decision was taken four years after repeating tropes Jewish people being in control of global business interests and the entertainment industry, and comparing Jews to the Ku Klux Klan.
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