The other night on CNN it was announced that Bill Gates is to be granted an “honorary knighthood” by Queen Elizabeth II. What? I thought all knighthoods were honorary – I mean, the title brings with it no estate, money or government post, it’s just an honor, right? Also, they said Gates will not be entitled to be addressed as “Sir William” because that form of address would be reserved for British citizens. Huh? Is a knighthood any less a knighthood because the recipient is not British? Does this mean Bill can’t be called “Sir William” even when he visits Britain? How does this work?
Also – why is he being knighted? Bill Gates has done a lot for America and a lot for the world, but what has he done for Britain in particular?
Yes and Yes. Non-Brits can’t be knights, but they can be honorary knights. One doesn’t have to do something that benefits Britain directly, e.g., Rudy Giuliani is an honorary knight for his leadership during the 9/11 tragedy.
Officially the award is being made for Gates’s “services to global enterprise”, but a cynic might suggest that, in practice it’s probably because of Microsoft’s position as an employer in the UK, and because Gates has made donations to academic institutions here.
He’s not the first American to receive the award - George Bush senior, Rudolph Giuliani, Steven Spielberg and Alan Greenspan have as well, for instance – but it’s true that they don’t get to call themselves “Sir”; only citizens of countries where Queen Elizabeth is Head of State do that. Otherwise there’s no difference between a KBE awarded to a British person and one awarded to an American. The word “honorary” is just included in the announcement to indicate that there’s no title change involved.
In fact the singer Bob Geldof got one back in 1986 following all his charity work for Ethiopia, and because he’s Irish his award was also honorary, but that doesn’t stop the tabloids here calling him “Sir Bob”, so maybe you can expect them to call Gates “Sir Bill” in future too.
Related question: The Constitution prohibits folks “in a position of trust” with the United States government from obtaining titles or gifts from foreign princes and the like.
If the Queen were willing to bestow a knighthood upon any ol’ private citizen (not a public official) would there be any restriction on that person receiving the honor?
Ronald Reagan, Norman Schwarzkopf, Billy Graham and George Mitchell are some other Americans who have received honorary knighthoods. They weren’t prohibited from doing so by the US Constitution, apparently because the relevant amendment was never ratified. I believe Cecil has already covered this subject (no pun intended).
I ought to amend my previous post, though. Canadian citizens, despite having the Queen as head of state, get honorary knighthoods not ordinary ones because of a stipulation in their Constitution, and even then only if they also qualify for a UK passport or occupy certain positions of office such as prime minister.
Mr. Gates can call himself “Sir Bill” all he likes, just as I can start referring to myself as “King Scooby the Magnificent, Keeper of the Scooby Snak and Defender of the Mystery Machine.”
Of course, when I do that, people look at me funny and back away slowly, making no sudden moves.
Well aside from providing lots of jobs in the UK, MSFT has been spending some crazy cash in the UK lately in research. Aside from typical MSFT research, “in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Mr. Gates Foundation announced a donation of $210-million to Cambridge University to create a scholarship program for graduate students from outside Britain” Cite
The person himself can decline, if he so chooses. It isn’t obligatory to accept. It’s called an honour, even for citizens where The Queen is the head of state, because the person who receives it is being honoured. An honourary honour is the name of the honour which goes to citizens of countries where the Queen is not head of state, as has been mentioned.
If a person doesn’t want to be honoured by The Queen, he doesn’t have to be.
Of course, I don’t think its considered good manners to say you’ll accept and then change your mind on the day, when the Queen is standing there in front of you with the sword. If you choose to decline an honour, you are supposed to convey your refusal when the idea is raised with your people by the Queen’s people.
There was a bit of a hoohah earlier this year about the number of people who had declined all manner of honours, so there are some British people who were offered honours but declined, so a foreigner can surely decline.
If you ever see him titled on the likes of the BBC it’s as “Sir Bob Geldof”, rather than the proper knighthood title of “Sir Bob”. (Or would it be “Sir Robert”?)
It’s all nonsense anyway. Bill Gates can already call himself anything he wants. This knighthood is a pat on the back for throwing some of his millions into research facilities in the UK. It also doesn’t hurt royalty being pals with the planet’s richest.
I just searched the BBC news site for references to “Geldof” and in the eight pages of results he was called “Sir Bob Geldof” several times, which is technically incorrect, but it’s go nothing to do with whether they should include his surname or write his forename in full, it’s because they shouldn’t include the “Sir” at all.
Of course you’re right that it’s all nonsense, and that people can call themselves whatever they like, but the award wasn’t made by the Queen personally, it was on the recommendation of Chancellor Gordon Brown, so there’s nothing in the royalty-being-pals-with-the-richest thing. If he saw a list of the other jerks who have been given honorary knighthoods, Gates might be embarassed to get one himself.
Just for the hell of it I mailed the Beeb about your observation and they say they’ll take it on board. Under the present circumstances, you’ve got to hand it to them for the quick response, haven’t you?
