Top 10 People Who Declined Knighthood
10. David Bowie
Although many popular English rockers such as Sir Mick Jagger and Sir Paul McCartney
have accepted the honor, David Bowie refused to become a knight in 20013. He was nonetheless
made Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government and took
an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music, both in 1999. Throughout his career,
the musician has sold an estimated 250 million records and has been received 9 platinum,
11 gold and 8 silver records.
Bowie also refused being named a Commander of the British Empire three years prior to
rejecting knighthood.1 In a 2003 interview, the singer explained his decisions 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.” Based on this, it appears
that Bowie prefers specific honors which highlight his artistic talent, as opposed to the more
general titles offered by Queen Elizabeth II.
9. Albert Finney
It is unlikely that British stage and film star Albert Finney will be singled out again
for a royal honor after rejecting recognition twice. Having achieved prominence with his
breakthrough role in Tom Jones (1963), for which he was given the Golden Globe for Most
Promising Newcomer, Finney enjoyed continued on-screen success. He is the recipient of
the Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild awards and was nominated four times for the
Academy Award. His more recent films include Erin Brockovich (2000), Big Fish (2003) and
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).
In 1980, Finney turned down Commander of the Order of the British Empire which is the middle
rank of five classes of an order of chivalry originally established by King George V in
1917 to honor non-combatants after WWI. After starring in Erin Brockovich, he rejected the
far more prestigious rank of knight. Finney was straightforward in telling the press that
he declined because of perceived “snobbery.”
8. Aldous Huxley
In 1959, famed writer and drug-enthusiast Aldous Huxley rejected the offer of the lowest
rank of knighthood, Bachelor Knight. Huxley is best known for his Brave New World (1932)
which explores a futuristic society altered by reproductive technology and sleep learning.
He later dabbled in screenwriting but his adaptation of Alice in Wonderland was rejected
by Walt Disney because he could, “only understand every third word.” A proponent of LSD, Huxley
was famously injected with two massive doses of the psychedelic as he lay dying of natural
causes.
This humanist and pacifist was also interested in mysticism and the paranormal. Huxley was
very politically active, which may account for his rejection of the honor of knighthood.
Having worked as a farm laborer in his early adult years, the author held socialistic ideals.
After moving to Hollywood in 1937, he joined the Vedanta Society of Southern California
and taught Hindu meditation and spirituality classes.
7. Vanessa Redgrave
Proclaimed by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller as the “greatest living actress of
our times,” Vanessa Redgrave declined being knighted in 1999. Her father, actor Michael
Redgrave, accepted the title of Commander of the British Empire. While she may be Hollywood
royalty, being the only British actress to receive the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Golden Globe
and Screen Actors Guild awards, she will remain a commoner in the British Empire. She is best
known for her stage work and her film roles in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Julia (1977)
and Howards End (1992).
Noting that it is lèse majesté to even talk of declining the title of Dame, Redgrave believes
that her greatest honor is being a Goodwill Ambassador for Unicef. While she may not be
direct, her championing of radical political causes speaks for itself. She has expressed
sympathy for the IRA, PLO and Chechen separatists. In her 1977 Best Supporting Actress speech
she attacked “Zionist hoodlums.”
6. Stephen Hawking
Despite accepting an honorary fellowship from the Royal Society of Arts and the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, physicist Stephen Hawking has publicly declined knighthood. Hawking
is best known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity which
explore the Big Bang Theory and black holes. His 1988 bestseller, “A Brief History of
Time”, stayed on the Sunday Times bestseller list for a record breaking 237 weeks. He is
afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) which has
left him nearly paralyzed.
Hawking has been vocal about rejecting the title, explaining in interviews that he “dislikes
the whole concept.” The scientist is also an open critic of the British government’s
“mismanagement” of science funding. In particular, he dislikes the merger of the
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council with the Council for the Central Laboratory
of the Research Councils, believing they should remain separate entities for optimal discovery.
5. E. M. Forster
The noted English novelist declined knighthood in 1949 but later accepted the Order of the
Champions of Honour in 1953 and the Order of Merit in 1969, just a year before his death
at the age of 90. Both titles recognize excellence in literature but are considered lesser privileges.
A lifelong bachelor and former BBC Radio broadcaster, he is best known for penning “A Passage
To India”, “Howards End”, and “A Room with a View.”
Although he never went on-record as to why he rejected the title, there is speculation
that he did not want to draw attention because of his hidden homosexuality. In fact, Forster’s
sexual orientation was not revealed until “Maurice” was published shortly after
his death. The writer suppressed this beautiful love story about two men attending Cambridge
due to fear of public rejection for nearly 60 years.
4. George Bernard Shaw
Due to distaste for honors in general, George Bernard Shaw rejected an offer of knighthood.
While he also helped to found the London School of Economics and published scores of socialist
pamphlets for his beloved Fabian society, Shaw is best known for his playwriting. He
is the only person to win both the Nobel Prize in Literature, likely for “Saint Joan”
(1925) and the Oscar, for his contributions to literature and the screenplay Pygmalion
(1938). He only accepted the Nobel Prize at the behest of his wife, who felt it was a
tribute to Ireland. He nonetheless rejected the monetary prize, asking that it be charitably
used to translate Swedish works into English.
In spite of his famously large ego, Shaw rejected the offer of knighthood and an informal offer
of the Order of Merit upon that refusal. In so doing, the playwright commented coarsely
that only the retrospective judgment of history defined merit in authorship. His prickly personality
also gave birth to a new adjective, “Shavian,” a word used to describe the often abrasive
traits he embodied.
3. Paul Dirac
Quite the eccentric, Paul Dirac had a multitude of personal reasons for declining being knighted
twice. Widely considered to be one of the world’s greatest physicists, he is the youngest-ever
winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, winning in 1933 at the age of 31. He was given this recognition,
along with Erwin Schrödinger, for his work in atomic theory. He predicted the existence
of antimatter and formulated the eponymous Dirac equation which explains the movement
of elementary fermion particles.
Dirac refused the honor of knighthood, principally because he did not want to be forever addressed
by his first name (which may account for his 1973 acceptance of the Order of Merit with
no such requirement). However, he was also known to shy away from attention, often sporting
disguises to thwart media attention. He was likely autistic, mentally abused by his overbearing
father and preferred silence in the company of others. Albert Einstein once remarked of
Dirac, “this balancing on the dizzying path between genius and madness is awful.” He
eventually came out of his shell after marrying, and his new wife encouraged his more mainstream
obsessions with Mickey Mouse and Cher.
2. Michael Faraday
Queen Victoria rewarded Michael Faraday for his lifetime of scientific achievement with
the use of a Hampton Court house and a knighthood. He only accepted the former. Despite his lack
of formal training1, the British physicist and chemist is best known for his contributions
to electromagnetism. His electromagnetic rotary devices paved the way for electricity to be
a viable power source in technology. The farad, a unit of capacitance which quantifies the
ability of a capacitor to store energy in an electric field, is named for him.
Faraday had a pattern of1 rejecting honors bestowed upon him in his later career and
wanted to “remain plain Mr. Faraday to the end.” It is likely that his religious beliefs
played a role in these rejections– He was part of the now-defunct Sandemanians, a strict
Presbyterian sect that rejected worldly recognition. In fact, Faraday agonized over whether to
merely attend dinner with the Queen. He acquiesced under a sense of civic duty and was excommunicated
by his church until he repented and underwent considerable atonement.
1. L. S. Lowry
Modest but exceedingly gifted painter L. S. Lowry turned down more royal honors than any
other known individual– a total of five. This self-described simple man preferred a
minimal palate to depict primarily metropolitan scenes, using only white, ivory, black, yellow
ochre and Prussian blue. He was named an official war artist during WWII and was appointed to
paint Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.
Lowry worked as a rent collector for the Pall Mall Property Company in Manchester for over
forty years. This occupation required him to walk the city observing street life which
he later depicted on canvas in his quiet evenings. It is speculated that Lowry declined royal
recognition because he did not want to draw attention to his day job and be categorized
a hobby artist. The painter declined knighthood and appointments to the Commander of the Order
of the British Empire and Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.