British Actors who rejected the Queen's Honors (DIGITAL SPY)

British actor Alan Rickman rejected a CBE from the Queen.

 Alfred Hitchcock rejected a CBE in 1962 but accepted a knighthood from the Queen shortly before his death in 1980.

David Bowie reportedly rejected a CBE in 2000, explaining simply: "I seriously don't know what it's for."

 .John Lennon returned his MBE 1969, along with a letter to Her Majesty which read: "I am returning this in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam 

BAFTA-winning comedy duo Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French rejected an OBE back in 2001.

Skyfall actor Albert Finney turned down a CBE in 1980 and rejected a knighthood in 2000.

According to official government records, Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave also rejected an honour from the Queen.

Actor Bill Nighy reportedly declined the British Honour of CBE.

READ MORE: http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity/i515184-8/stars-rejecting-the-queens-honours-bill-nighy.html

Sir Kenneth Branagh reveals why he is ready to graciously accept his knighthood By LIZ THOMAS (MAIL ON LINE)

Humbled: Kenneth and his wife, pictured last week at the Cartier Polo

Sir Kenneth Branagh has revealed age and experience are behind his decisions to embrace his Knighthood after declining his CBE.

The actor declined the Commander of the British Empire honour in 1994 when he was in his mid-thirties.

This week the 51-year-old was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, and he admitted he now felt it would be churlish to turn down one of the highest accolades in British society.

He said: ‘I was genuinely shocked when I got it. I didn’t know what it was all about. I had to consider it. I rejected the CBE.

'But at this stage in my life, my practise is, if people are kind enough to acknowledge what you do it seems polite not to say, “Thank you very much”.

‘The business I am in, we are very lucky. At the end of every stage performance the audience all applaud me for doing my job, but I have friends who work in offices who don’t get that.

Sir Kenneth added that he had been sworn to secrecy and had only told his wife, Lindsay, and admitted he even worried his response had got lost in the post.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2163452/Sir-Kenneth-Branagh-reveals-ready-graciously-accept-knighthood.html#ixzz1ycTcfE5F

Kenneth Branagh: Winslet, Branagh top British honours list (AFP)

LONDON — Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, acting great Kenneth Branagh and the designer behind Kate Middleton's wedding dress were decorated by Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday in her birthday honours list.

"Titanic" star Winslet was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition for her services to drama, while Branagh becomes Sir Kenneth after being made a knight in the chivalry order.

Winslet said: "I feel deeply proud to receive this, as a part of an ever-expanding community of British actors and film-makers who are fortunate enough to be able to contribute to an international industry.
"This makes me very proud to be a Brit," the 36-year-old said.

Branagh, the Shakespearian actor-cum-film director, was given the higher rank of knight commander and joins the pantheon of British actors who have been made a sir.

Belfast-born Branagh, 56, was made a KBE for his services to drama and to the community of Northern Ireland.

"I feel humble, elated and incredibly lucky," he said.


READ MORE:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hLHZWIrMEd3k7CgAM0ElKAKn5cBA?docId=CNG.cd10071abd95e4ef777f2f11df936cdf.ff1

Kate Winslet to receive CBE in Queen's birthday honours list ANI | Jun 10, 2012, 05.35PM IST (TIMES OF INDIA)

Kate Winslet will be receiving a CBE, 100 years after the sinking of the ship Titanic that helped make her famous, for her "significant contribution" to modern cinema.

The 36-year-old Oscar-winning actress will get the gong in the Queen's Birthday Honours List unveiled on Saturday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.


READ MORE:  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-interviews/Kate-Winslet-to-receive-CBE-in-Queens-birthday-honours-list/articleshow/13997892.cms

Helena Bonham Carter receives CBE from Queen (HOLLYWOOD.COM)

By WENN.com

The actress played the late Queen Elizabeth in the 2010 movie and she was the guest of honour at her daughter Queen Elizabeth II's royal residence, where she was recognised for her services to drama. Bonham Carter, who wore a striking Vivienne Westwood tartan dress, was given the award to recognise her career achievements. 

Colin Firth, her co-star in The King's Speech, received the same honour last month (Jan12). Record producer Steve Lillywhite also received a CBE medal on Wednesday, while novelist Maggie Gee was handed an Order of the British Empire (OBE).


http://www.hollywood.com/news/Bonham_Carter_honoured_with_CBE/18013872

Colin Firth: Chiswick star who played King meets real-life royalty (Chiswick W4)

He was called ‘ Your Majesty’ when he played the role of monarch in ‘ The King’s Speech’ but this week Colin Firth met the real heir to the throne at Buckingham Palace when he went to collect his CBE for services to drama.

The Chiswick-based actor was presented with his honour by Prince Charles, whose grandfather he played in the Oscar-winning film. The role of King George VI has been his most successful to date, bringing the 51-year old actor a string of awards, including the coveted Oscar.

He was accompanied to the ceremony by his Italian wife Livia, who tweeted that she was curious and excited to attend the “quintessentially British event”.

The father-of-three has already been recognised for his work on behalf of his wife's native Italy. Firth, who married producer Livia Giuggioli in 1997, was made a Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity in 2005.

Livia, who has become famous for her campaign to bring sustainable fashion to glamorous events, known as the Green Carpet Challenge, wore a black organic wool dress, and a 1989 Prada pattered coat loaned by a friend who had previously worn it to a La Scala premiere.

She joked on her blog that she had almost forgotten to wear a hat to the ceremony but was saved by Allesard Greco, who works with Irish-born milliner Philip Treacy, who had a royal blue wide-brimmed hat delivered to her house in Chiswick the day beforehand.

More than fifteen years after his role as Mr. D’Arcy brought him to fame in the television drama of the Jane Austen book ‘ Pride and Prejudice’,(1995) Colin Firth is about to revisit his role as Mark Darcy , in the third Bridget Jones movie.

Filming is expected to begin shortly ,with reports suggesting the movie will be titled ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’, following the story of the ditzy PR girl as she becomes a mother. Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo has signed up to direct the film which will reunite the original cast, including Hugh Grant and Rene Zwelleger. It is expected to hit British cinema screens in 2013.

January 28, 2012


http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conceleb304.htm

Colin Firth receives CBE (THE VOICE OF RUSSIA)

Tags: actors, cinema, News, Culture

Jan 26, 2012 21:49 Moscow Time

Photo: EPA

British movie star Colin Firth was awarded the title of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the Prince of Wales on Thursday. He received the award for playing Prince Charles’ grandfather King George VI in The King’s Speech. The film tells a story of the monarch who is battling to overcome stuttering with the help of an Australian speech therapist.

Firth had been awarded a Golden Globe for this part.

(TASS)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/26/64708108.html

the "Alternative Honors List," or, for me, the I'll take it if they don't want it list (New York Times)

The writer Doris Lessing and David Bowie both turned down honors from the British government.



In what the BBC is calling the “alternative honors list,” the British government on Friday released the names of 277 people — actors, writers, musicians, politicians, scientists and others — who for reasons known mostly to themselves rejected the rarefied opportunity to become knights, dames and the like between 1951 and 1999.       

Included are Roald Dahl, who did not want to receive the Order of the British Empire, or O.B.E., in 1986; Graham Greene, who did not want to be a Commander of the British Empire, or C.B.E., in 1956; and Aldous Huxley, who turned down a knighthood in 1959.

The list, released only after repeated Freedom of Information requests by the BBC, includes only dead nonrecipients and leaves it anyone’s guess as to why they declined their awards. But people who turned down awards in the past have given their reasons as, variously, not believing in the monarchy; not liking the system’s links to the British Empire, when there is no British Empire anymore; being miffed that the honor they are being offered is one of the lower-level ones; and feeling generally opposed to the elitism of the whole thing.       


To read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/world/europe/britain-releases-partial-list-of-those-declining-knighthood.html?_r=1

Colin Firth receives invite to Palace to crown his top year (June 2011 Belfast Telegraph)

(In a previous post we posted an article that said Colin had not received his CBE when Helena Bonham Carter did.  There was a good reason.  He's already received one.  duh.  Great big Thank You to Anne Govier for pointing this out)

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By Adrian Rutherford
Saturday, 11 June 2011

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The King's Speech star Colin Firth is heading to Buckingham Palace just months after collecting an Oscar for his portrayal of King George VI.

The actor will receive his CBE after being recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

It caps a memorable year which saw Firth pick up a string of awards, most notably the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as the stuttering monarch.

His emergence as Hollywood royalty comes 16 years after he achieved instant heartthrob status in the UK when he played Jane Austen's brooding hero Mr Darcy, famously emerging from a lake in a dripping wet shirt and breeches in the BBC television adaptation of Pride And Prejudice.

Firth is among a host of stars from the worlds of music, entertainment and sport who are recognised recognised in the honours.

Singer Bryan Ferry, who has had a recording career spanning nearly 40 years, receives a CBE.

The 65-year-old is one of the most famous figures of the 1970s glam rock scene. His hits with Roxy Music include Virginia Plain, Love Is The Drug, Angel Eyes and Jealous Guy.

England's cricketers are recognised for their achievement in winning the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years with OBEs for captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower, and an MBE for player of the series Alastair Cook.

Golfer Lee Westwood, until last month the world's number one player, gets an OBE. There are MBEs for three of Britain's London 2012 Olympic medal hopefuls — world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu and 15-time Tour de France stage-winning cycling hero Mark Cavendish.

Ex-EastEnder Brooke Kinsella gets an MBE for her campaign against knife crime, prompted by the murder of her 16-year-old brother Ben in 2008.

Author Julia Donaldson, best known for ‘The Gruffalo’, caps a week in which she was appointed the Children's Laureate by being awarded an MBE.

OBEs go to Graeme Garden (68) and Tim Brooke-Taylor (70), creators of much-loved madcap 1970s TV series The Goodies with Bill Oddie (69), who received his OBE in 2003.

Other broadcasters honoured include BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour presenter Jenni Murray (61), who is made a Dame, and BBC Radio 2 DJ ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris (65), who gets an OBE.

In the acting world, an OBE is awarded to 82-year-old Bernard Cribbins (left) who narrated cult children's show The Wombles and appeared in several of the Carry On films.

In business and the City, a knighthood goes to Bank of England governor Mervyn King, while Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King (50) is given a CBE.

Former Conservative leader Michael Howard is made a Companion of Honour for public and political services and actress Janet Suzman is made a Dame for her long and distinguished career on stage and screen.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/colin-firth-receives-invite-to-palace-to-crown-his-top-year-16010752.html#ixzz1iQAfy4y1

Colin Firth: Helena Bonham Carter receives CBE, but not Colin? (Mail On Line)

No Oscar win for Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter, pictured, didn’t win an Oscar for her performance in The King’s Speech but she has been awarded a CBE, a senior honour.

Conversely, Colin Firth won a Best Actor Oscar as the stammering King George VI but got nothing in the New Year Honours list.

A source who studies such matters says: ‘Could it be that Miss Bonham Carter’s portrayal of the Queen Mother verged on reverence, and was therefore pleasing to the Palace?

While Mr Firth’s performance contained some 25 explosive profanities, including “f***”, “s***” and “b*****” among others. Firth might have turned down a bauble, of course.’

 This post was WRONG.  Colin received his CBE in June of 2011  http://britsunited.blogspot.com/2012/01/colin-firth-receives-invite-to-palace.html
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2081534/Why-Ed-Miliband-joined-controversy-honours-list.html#ixzz1iPUlvazv