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The following is a partial list of people who have declined a British honour, such as a knighthood or an honour usually within the Order of the British Empire. In most cases, the honour was rejected privately; others were rejected publicly, or accepted then returned later, as with John Lennon and Rabindranath Tagore (although the honour itself, once accepted, cannot be unilaterally renounced by its recipient).

Nowadays potential recipients are contacted by Downing Street to confirm in writing whether or not they wish to be put forward for an honour well before any public announcement is made. Therefore those who now decline an honour when it is announced have already indicated acceptance beforehand.

Some potential recipients have rejected one honour then accepted another one (such as Sir Alfred Hitchcock), or have initially refused an honour then accepted it, or have accepted one honour then declined another (such as Vanessa Redgrave), or refused in the hopes of another - (Roald Dahl was offered an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, but refused because he wanted a knighthood so that his wife would be Lady Dahl). This often has as much to do with the political party in power as anything else, since honours can be construed as being political rewards.

Sometimes a potential recipient will refuse a knighthood or peerage, but will accept an honour that does not carry a title, such as the Order of Merit (OM) or Order of the Companions of Honour (CH); Bertrand Russell, Paul Scofield, Doris Lessing, Harold Pinter, David Hockney, Florence Nightingale, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Augustus John and Francis Crick are famous examples).

Many modern examples were identified in December 2003 when a confidential document containing over 300 names of such people was leaked to The Sunday Times.

Honours declined

Dukedom

• Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS, statesman and Prime Minister (in 1880; had previously accepted the Earldom of Beaconsfield)
• Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) statesman and Prime Minister (offered Dukedom of London, declined in order to remain in the House of Commons and to allow his son a political career)
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, statesman (1857)
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC Viceroy of India (in the 1890s, as did not want to keep up the lifestyle expected of a duke)
• Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC statesman and Prime Minister (in 1886 and 1892 and possibly in 1901^[1] - citing the prohibitive cost of the lifestyle dukes were expected to maintain.)

Marquessate

• Isaac Wallop, 5th Earl of Portsmouth (later declined appointment as KG)
• John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, KG, PC Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (in the 1890s)
• Brigadier Sir Alexander Cambridge, GCB, GCVO, CMG, DSO, formerly Prince Alexander of Teck (in 1917, as thought the title did not sound British enough; accepted the Earldom of Athlone instead)
• Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood, GCVO (in 1922, as he thought marquessates died out more quickly than earldoms)

Earldom

• Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (declined the Earldom of Wiltshire on his death bed in 1596, possibly out of delicacy to his Boleyn family members who had been tragically associated with it.)
• Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC outgoing Prime Minister (declined the Earldom of Banbury in 1804 as wished to remain in the Commons; later accepted the Viscountcy of Sidmouth)
• Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC statesman (in 1809)
• William Gladstone, Prime Minister (in 1885)
• Harold Macmillan, OM, PC statesman and Prime Minister (in 1963; later accepted the Earldom of Stockton in 1984)
• R. A. Butler, Conservative politician (in 1964; accepted life peerage as Baron Butler of Saffron Walden in 1965)
• Sir Angus Ogilvy, KCVO, PC (in 1963 on his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Kent)

Viscountcy

• Benjamin Disraeli, KG, PC, FRS outgoing Prime Minister (in 1868; the title was instead conferred on his wife; he later did accept the Earldom of Beaconsfield)
• Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE ADC First World War commander, until the Government had made what he felt was sufficient provision for returned Great War veterans (later accepted the Earldom of Haig).
• John Henry Whitley, retiring Speaker of the House of Commons (in 1928)

Barony

• Acting Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, GCVO, KCB, DSO (in 1946, as he thought it was too low; accepted the Viscountcy of Mountbatten of Burma instead; later accepted the Earldom of Mountbatten of Burma)

Life Barony

• Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM philosopher (in 1980)
• John Major, CH, outgoing Prime Minister (as he thought a seat in the Lords was incompatible with retiring from politics; later accepted appointment as KG)
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, OM, GBE, AC, QSO, CD, PC (in 1999)
• Charles, Prince of Wales (in 1999)
• Prince Andrew, Duke of York (in 1999)
• Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (in 1999)

Knighthood

• Frank Auerbach, artist (in 2003)
• Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC first Prime Minister of Australia (in 1887, 1891 and 1899; accepted appointment as GCMG in 1902)
• Charles Bean, Australian journalist.
• Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International
• Alan Bennett, playwright (in 1996; had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1988)
• David Bowie, musician (in 2003; had previously declined appointment as CBE in 2000)
• Benjamin Britten, OM, CH composer (later accepted appointment as CH and OM and a life barony)
• The Hon Iqbal Chand Chopra, CBE, QC, barrister/politician in then Tanganyika, declined a knighthood on grounds that his partner in Williamson Diamonds Ltd., Dr. J.T. Williamson, could not accept a knighthood as a Canadian citizen.
• Joseph Conrad, author
• Francis Crick, OM, FRS, scientist (refused both CBE in 1963 and knighthood, but later accepted appointment as OM in 1991)
• Hugh Cudlipp, OBE editor (in 1966; later accepted a knighthood in 1973 and a life peerage in 1974)
• The Revd Hugh Bruce Cunningham, minister (in 1700s)
• Michael Faraday, FRS chemist and physicist
• Albert Finney, actor (in 2000, had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1980)
• E. M. Forster, OM, CH author and essayist (in 1949; later accepted appointment as CH in 1953)^[2]
• Michael Frayn, dramatist (in 2003; had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1989)
• John Galsworthy, OM, novelist (later accepted appointment as OM)
• Thomas Hardy, OM, novelist/poet (later accepted appointment as OM)
• Stephen Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA, physicist
• David Hockney, CH, RA artist (in 1990; later accepted appointment as CH in 1997)
• Trevor Howard, actor
• Aldous Huxley, author (in 1959)
• Augustus John, OM, RA artist (on a number of occasions, probably at the urging of his wife; later accepted appointment as OM)
• Rudyard Kipling, author and poet
• L. S. Lowry, artist (in 1968; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1955 and CBE in 1961; later declined appointment as CH in 1972 and 1976; holds the record for the most honours declined)
• Humphrey Lyttelton, jazz musician and broadcaster (in 1995)
• Malcolm McDowell, actor (in 1995; had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1984).
• Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum (in 1999)
• Alexander Mackenzie, PC second Prime Minister of Canada (as he thought it an affront to his democratic ideals)
• Dan McKenzie, CH, FRS earth scientist (later accepted appointment as CH in 2003)
• Robert Morley, CBE actor and playwright
• William Martin Murphy, industrialist, MP (in 1906)
• Gilbert Murray, classical scholar and public intellectual (in 1912)
• Harold Pinter, CH, CBE playwright (later accepted appointment as CH)
• Anthony Powell, CH, CBE writer (later accepted appointment as CH)
• Benjamin K. Johnson, chemist and public intellectual (in 1985, later accepted OM in 1992)
• Richard Redgrave, RA artist (in 1869)
• John Singer Sargent, US painter (declined an honorary knighthood)
• Don Stephen Senanayake, first Prime Minister of Ceylon
• Paul Scofield, CH, CBE actor (on several occasions)
• Alastair Sim, CBE, actor
• Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM composer (later accepted appointment as OM)
• Bill Woodfull, OBE cricketer (in 1934 (for services to cricket); later accepted appointment as OBE in 1963 (for services to education))
• William Butler Yeats, Irish poet (in 1915)

Appointment as a Companion of Honour (CH)

• Francis Bacon, artist (in 1977; had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1960)
• Robert Graves, poet and novelist (in 1984; had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1957)
• L. S. Lowry, artist (in 1972 and 1976; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1955 and CBE in 1961 and a knighthood in 1968; holds the record for the most honours declined)

Appointment to the Order of the Bath

As a Knight Commander (KCB)

• Lieutenant Colonel T. E. Lawrence, CB, DSO World War I soldier, diplomat, and author, best known as Lawrence of Arabia
• Maj.-Gen. Adolphus Haggerston Stephens, CB, ADC and friend to the Duke of Cambridge and Edward VII, declined the offer of a KCB three times, as a gentleman.

Appointment to the Royal Victorian Order

As a Commander (CVO)

• Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan (had previously declined appointment as LVO and OBE)

As a Lieutenant (LVO)

• Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan (later declined appointment as OBE and CVO)

Appointment to the Order of the British Empire

As a Dame Commander (DBE)

• The Lady Callaghan of Cardiff, campaigner and fundraiser
• Doris Lessing, CH, OBC, author (in 1993; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1977; later accepted appointment as CH in 2000)
• Geraldine McEwan, actress (in 2002; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1986)
• Vanessa Redgrave, CBE, actress (in 1999)
• Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, PC, 1930- , politician, former Liberal Democrats Leader in the House of Lords, as a social democrat declined a DBE. Later, in 1993, however, she accepted appointment to the Lords because, unlike a damehood, Williams could make a contribution to public life with a permanent seat in the Upper House of Parliament. (As a Member, Baroness Williams has led efforts to modernise the Lords.)

As a Commander (CBE)

• Francis Bacon, artist (in 1960; later declined appointment as CH in 1977)
• J. G. Ballard, author (in 2003)
• Nancy Banks-Smith, television critic (in 1970)
• Alan Bennett, playwright (in 1988; later declined a knighthood in 1996)
• Honor Blackman, actress (in 2002)
• David Bowie, musician (in 2000; later declined a knighthood in 2003)
• Sir Francis Boyd, journalist (in 1967; later accepted a knighthood in 1976)
• Kenneth Branagh, actor and director (in 1994)
• John Cleese, actor/comedian (in 1996)
• John Cole, journalist (in 1993)
• Francis Crick, scientist (refused CBE in 1963, refused a knighthood, but later accepted appointment as OM in 1991)
• Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One commercial rights (in 1996)
• Albert Finney, actor (in 1980; later declined a knighthood in 2000)
• Michael Frayn, OM, FRSL dramatist (in 1989; later declined a knighthood in 2003)
• Lucian Freud, OM, CH artist (in 1977; later accepted appointment as CH in 1983 and OM in 1993)
• Robert Graves, poet and novelist (in 1957; later declined appointment as CH in 1984)
• Sir Wally Herbert, polar explorer (later accepted a knighthood)
• Sir Alfred Hitchcock, KBE director (in 1962; later accepted appointment as KBE in 1980)
• John le Carré, author
• C. S. Lewis, author, Oxford professor (to avoid association with any political issues)
• L. S. Lowry, artist (in 1961; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1955; later declined a knighthood in 1968 and appointment as CH in 1972 and 1976; holds the record for the most honours declined)
• Lewis Kelly, percussionist (Europe)
• Malcolm McDowell,actor (in 1984; later declined a knighthood in 1995).
• George Melly, musician, artist and raconteur (in 2001)
• Dame Helen Mirren, DBE, actress (in 1996; later accepted appointment as DBE in 2003)
• Sir V. S. Naipaul, author (in 1977; later accepted a knighthood in 1990)
• Keith Richards, guitarist (The Rolling Stones)
• Robert Simpson, composer
• Savenaca Siwatibau, Fijian academic
• Polly Toynbee, columnist (in 2000)
• Evelyn Waugh, novelist (in 1959)
• Paul Weller, musician (in 2007)

As an Officer (OBE)

• Peter Alliss, golfer and commentator (in 2002)
• Jim Broadbent, actor (in 2002)
• Roald Dahl, author (in 1986)
• Dawn French, comedienne (in 2001 together with Jennifer Saunders)
• Graham Greene, OM, CH author (in 1956; later accepted appointment as CH in 1966 and OM in 1986)
• Hamish Henderson, poet and folklorist (in 1983 as protest against the Thatcher government's nuclear policies ^[1])
• Lenny Henry, CBE comedian (later accepted appointment as CBE)
• Hattie Jacques, actress and comedienne (in the 1970s)
• Philip Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL poet (in 1968 on the grounds that he deserved a higher honour; later accepted appointment as CBE in 1975 and CH in 1985)
• Nigella Lawson, cookery writer
• Doris Lessing, CH, OBE author (in 1977; later declined appointment as DBE in 1993; later accepted appointment as CH in 2000)
• Ken Loach, director (in 1977)
• L. S. Lowry, artist (in 1955; later declined appointment as CBE in 1961, a knighthood in 1968 and appointment as CH in 1972 and 1976; holds the record for the most honours declined)
• Geraldine McEwan, actress (in 1986; later declined appointment as DBE in 2002)
• Hank Marvin, guitarist (The Shadows)
• Stanley Middleton, FRSL author, 1979
• Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan (had previously declined appointment as LVO; later declined appointment as CVO)
• Max Newman, mathematician and wartime codebreaker (in 1946 as protest against the inadequacy of Alan Turing's OBE)
• V. M. Sabherwall, Birmingham industrialist
• Jennifer Saunders, comedienne (in 2001 together with Dawn French)
• Jon Snow, newscaster (having declined, investigated and presented a Channel 4 documentary, Secrets of the Honours System^[3])
• Grace Williams, composer
• Michael Winner, director (in 2006, saying, "An OBE is what you get if you clean the toilets well at King's Cross station." ^[4] )
• Benjamin Zephaniah, poet ^[5], who said:

"I get angry when I hear the word 'empire'; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised."

As a Member (MBE)

• Major Derek Allhusen, CVO, Olympic equestrian gold-medallist in 1968
• Leonard Barden, British Chess Champion in 1954
• Joseph Corré, co-founder of Agent Provocateur (in 2007^[6])
• Rachel Whiteread, CBE artist (in 1997; later accepted appointment as CBE in 2006)
• Emer Rose Crangle, aid worker (in 1999)
• Barry McGuigan, MBE boxer (in 1986; later accepted same appointment in 1994)
• Joan Smith, journalist

Unknown honour

• Charles Babbage, FRS scientist
• Charles Holden, architect
• Alfred Edward Housman, poet
• Anish Kapoor, artist
• Richard Lambert, editor of the Financial Times
• A. E. W. Mason, novelist, who declared that honours meant nothing to a childless man
• J. B. Priestley, OM playwright
• Claire Tomalin, journalist and biographer

Renouncing an honour

As no official provision exists for renouncing an honour, any such act is always unofficial, and the record of the appointment in the London Gazette stands. However, the physical insignia can be returned to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood — though even this act is purely symbolic, as replacement insignia may be purchased for a nominal sum. Any recipient can also request that the honour not be used officially, e.g. Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, was knighted in 1997 but has not used the title since the handover to China.

Those who have returned insignia include:

• Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, journalist (returned MBE insignia in 2003)
• Roy Bailey, folk singer (returned MBE insignia in August 2006 in protest at the British Government's foreign policy in Lebanon and Palestine)
• John Lennon, musician (returned MBE insignia in 1969 "in protest against Britain's involvement in the Biafran (Nigerian Civil) War, and its support of America in Vietnam")
• Carla Lane, television writer (appointed OBE in 1989; returned insignia in 2002 in protest at the appointment of the managing director of Huntingdon Life Sciences as CBE because of the company's testing on animals)
• Susan Wighton, AIDS worker (returned MBE insignia in 2006 in protest at the British Government's foreign policy in the Middle East)

Knights who have "renounced" their knighthoods include:

• Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, cricketer (knighted in 1936; renounced knighthood in 1947 on India's independence)
• Rabindranath Tagore, author and poet (knighted in 1915; renounced knighthood in 1919 to protest the Jallianwala Bagh massacre)
• C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, lawyer, parliamentarian and administrator (knighted in 1926 with the KCIE and again in 1939 with the KCSI; renounced both knighthoods in 1948 following Indian independence)
• Khwaja Nazimuddin, nobleman, administrator and politician who served as the Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951 and as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1951 to 1953 (knighted in 1934 with the KCIE; renounced knighthood in 1946 due to his personal belief in independence from Britain)

Declining a baronetcy

When a baronetcy becomes vacant on the death of a holder, the heir may choose not to register the proofs of succession, effectively declining the honour. The Official Roll of Baronets is kept at the Home Office by the Registrar of the Baronetage. Anyone who considers that he is entitled to be entered on the Roll may petition the Crown through the Home Secretary. Anyone succeeding to a baronetcy therefore must exhibit proofs of succession to the Home Secretary. A person who is not entered on the Roll will not be addressed or mentioned as a baronet or accorded precedence as a baronet. The baronetcy can be revived at any time on provision of acceptable proofs of succession, by, say, the son of a son who has declined to register the proofs of succession.^[7]

About 83 baronetcies are currently listed as awaiting proofs of succession. Notable "refuseniks" include Jonathon Porritt, lately of Friends of the Earth and Ferdinand Mount, the journalist.

Tam Dalyell, the left-wing former Labour MP and Father of the House of Commons, did provide proofs of succession to take his Scottish baronetcy, created in 1683, although he never uses his title.

In fiction

According to the text of The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, Sherlock Holmes was offered a knighthood and refused it.

In Ian Fleming's last James Bond novel, The Man With the Golden Gun, Bond refuses appointment as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).

In Kim Newman's The Diogenes Club story "Clubland Heroes", the club's senior agents, Charles Beauregard and Edwin Winthrop are described as having declined knighthoods to prevent publicising the "secret wars" they fought in.

In P. G. Wodehouse's novella Bertie Wooster Sees It Through, Mr L. G. Trotter refuses a knighthood because "he shrinks, no doubt, from the prospect of being addressed for the remainder of his life as Sir Lemuel."

In the British comedy As Time Goes By, Jean (Judi Dench)'s brother in law Steven accidentally refuses appointment as OBE because he ticked the decline box on his acceptance forms.

References