As King Charles III's 2026 Birthday Honours list recognises 1,182 recipients from across the UK, some famous faces have previously declined such awards. The honours, which acknowledge long-term volunteers, innovators, and those displaying moral courage, are awarded by the King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister or senior ministers. However, a number of celebrities have turned down the offers for personal reasons.
David Bowie famously refused a knighthood, stating: '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.' He maintained a diplomatic stance on Sir Mick Jagger's acceptance, saying it was 'just not for me.'
Comedy duo French and Saunders declined OBEs in 2001 for services to comedy drama. Jennifer Saunders explained: '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.' TV chef Delia Smith also turned down an OBE in 2001, saying: 'I'm not saving lives and I'm not doing anything other than something I absolutely love.'
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking declined a knighthood in the 1990s, though the exact reasons remain unclear, with some suggesting government funding cuts to science may have been a factor. John Lennon returned his MBE in 1969 in protest against British foreign policy, writing to the Queen: 'I am returning this in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts.'
George Harrison declined an OBE in 2000, reportedly feeling insulted that he was not offered a knighthood like Paul McCartney. Poet Benjamin Zephaniah rejected an OBE in 2003, writing in the Guardian that the word 'empire' reminded him of 'slavery, thousands of years of brutality, and how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.' Actor Michael Sheen returned his OBE in 2017 after researching the history between England and Wales.
