All the celebs who have turned down an honour from the royal family as New Year's list looms

The New Year's and birthday honours lists are seen by many as the ultimate recognition of a life dedicated to public service.

These lists, which include thousands of names from across the UK, both civilian and celebrity, honour their achievements and service with awards such as knighthoods, damehoods, or MBEs. The latest list is set to be unveiled on the evening of December 30, 2024. However, not everyone who is offered an honour accepts it.

While it's unusual to publicly disclose a refusal, there have been notable instances where those who have declined the monarch's offer have made their decision public. There have also been leaks from official sources at times. There are also instances where someone accepts an honour only to return it later. Potential recipients are contacted about six weeks before any public announcement to confirm in writing that they wish to be nominated for an honour, in an effort to avoid any awkward situations.

During Queen Elizabeth II's seven-decade reign, many thousands of people, some famous and many less so, were recognised in the biannual honours lists. This year's New Year's list will, of course, be King Charles' honours announcement, reports Wales Online. Big names like literary giant Roald Dahl, music icon David Bowie, and ace director Alfred Hitchcock have passed on the Royal honours. Even artist LS Lowry turned down a staggering five awards—a record.

By 2012, official numbers showed 277 folks had snubbed New Year or Birthday Honours from 1951 to 1999. It used to be hush-hush, but now celebs are more vocal after the list drops. So, who's said a polite 'no'?

Michael Sheen

He bagged an OBE in 2009 for his acting chops but gave it back in 2017. Diving deep into England-Wales history changed his mind. “By the time I had finished writing that lecture...I remember sitting there going: 'Well, I have a choice – I either don't give this lecture and hold on to my OBE or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back,'" he bared his soul to Owen Jones in The Guardian in 2020.

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders

The comedic duo turned their backs on OBEs "for services to comedy drama" back in 2001, only publicly disclosing their reasons for the snub later on. Saunders spoke candidly with Source magazine: "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. We didn't deserve a pat on the back. It felt a bit fake to stand alongside people who devoted their lives to truly worthy causes."

David Bowie

The music legend made it clear why he shunned the opportunity to be knighted, 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." On Sir Mick Jagger's acceptance, Bowie maintained a diplomatic stance, saying: "It's not my place to make a judgment on Jagger – it's his decision. But it's just not for me."

Roald Dahl

The renowned children’s author, famous for enchanting tales such as 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'James and the Giant Peach', declined a knighthood offered in the 1986 New Year's honours. The revelation came through a Telegraph freedom of information request, but the justification for his refusal wasn't disclosed.

Nigella Lawson

The culinary star has openly admitted she rejected an OBE offer in 2001 explaining: "I'm not saving lives and I'm not doing anything other than something I absolutely love."

Stephen Hawking

In 2008, he revealed that in the late 1990s he had been offered a knighthood but turned it down. It was later suggested that his decision was influenced by the government's policies on science funding and cuts, despite already holding a CBE title.

Paul Weller

The music legend politely declined a CBE in 2006. His representative noted in a statement: "Paul was surprised and flattered but it wasn't really for him."

John Lennon

The Beatles icon initially accepted an MBE, but in 1969 he chose to return it in a stand against Britain's foreign policy engagements, penning the memorable line: "Your Majesty, 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. With Love, John Lennon of Bag."

John Cleese

The Monty Python stalwart was considered for a CBE in 1996, but famously deemed them "silly". A peerage was also on the table in 1999 from Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown; however, Cleese felt the obligation to stay in chilly England during winter as a working peer would be "too much of a price to pay".

George Harrison

The former Beatle snubbed an OBE in 2000 – shortly after Paul McCartney took a step up with a knightly honour. While all the Beatles were MBE recipients in 1965, it's no secret John Lennon famously sent his back. Rumour has it Harrison wasn't just offered glorification for his tunes but was miffed because Macca bagged his knighthood a whole three years earlier.

"Whoever it was who decided to offer him the OBE and not the knighthood was extraordinarily insensitive," Harrison's mate Roy Connolly dished to the Independent. "George would have felt insulted – and with very good reason."

Ken Loach

The film director said ta-ta to an OBE back in '77. The man behind the camera makes flicks on gritty topics like poverty and not having a roof over your head. Fast forward to 2001, he spilled to Radio Times: "It's all the things I think are despicable: patronage, deferring to the monarchy, and the name of the British Empire, which is a monument of exploitation and conquest. I turned down the OBE because it's not a club you want to join when you look at the villains who've got it."

Jon Snow

The face that used to front Channel 4 News, not the Game of Thrones bloke. He gave a polite 'no thanks' to an OBE in 2000 and went full snoop two years later with a doc called Secrets of the Honours System. Snow said: "I tried to find out why I'd been given it and was unable to get a clear answer or, indeed, to find out who had proposed me,".

Danny Boyle

Film director Danny has revealed he declined an honour for his role in the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, stating it "was wrong" to take individual credit for a collective effort. "It's just not me," he remarked, emphasizing that the success of the ceremony was down to the contributions of thousands.

"You can make these speeches about: 'This is everybody's work, blah blah blah'. And you've got to mean it, and I did mean it, and it is true, and it's the only way you can carry on something like that: through the efforts of all the people. I don't know whether I'll ever get invited back to the palace."

Bernie Ecclestone

The ex-chief of Formula One Group, who admitted to fraud over undeclared assets worth £400m, also refused an honour in the early 2000s. In a 2019 interview, he explained that while he was pleased to have done some good, his primary motivation in business wasn't to earn accolades, so he didn't believe he deserved the honour.

LS Lowry

The renowned painter is said to have rejected more honours than anyone else, including a knighthood, a CBE, and an OBE. His friend Harold Riley disclosed that Lowry was a private man who didn't want the attention or to change his name, which played a part in his decision to turn down the honours.

Huw T Edwards

The Welsh trade unionist and Welsh Labour politician was uncomfortable with honours and refused a knighthood on at least two occasions in subsequent years. He had previously accepted an MBE before later renouncing it.

Rudyard Kipling

The writer and poet declined a knighthood in 1899 and again in 1903. His wife said that Kipling felt he could "do his work better without it". Kipling also declined the Order of Merit in 1921 and again in 1924. Kipling expressed his own view on the importance of titles and poetry in his poem The Last Rhyme of True Thomas.

Honor Blackman

Before her death in 2020 the Bond actress was a vocal supporter of Republic, the campaign for an elected head of state in the UK – so it's hardly surprising that she turned down a CBE in 2002. Blackman also publicly criticised fellow Bond star Sir Sean Connery for his tax-evading habits. "I don't think you should accept a title from a country and then pay absolutely no tax towards it," she said in 2012. "I don't think his principles are very high."

Benjamin Zephaniah

The poet, who died in December 2023 aged just 65, publicly rejected an OBE in 2003 in protest at British government policies and the British Empire. Writing in the Guardian he said the word 'empire' "reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised". The writer described himself as "profoundly anti-empire".

Jim Broadbent

The national treasure snubbed an OBE in 2002, explaining that he couldn't reconcile with actors receiving Royal accolades. "I think [honours] ought to go to those who really help others," he mentioned in a chat with the Telegraph. "Besides I like the idea of actors not being part of the Establishment. We're vagabonds and rogues."

Broadbent also expressed his unease with the honours' undercurrents, revealing: "I don't think the British Empire is something that I particularly want to celebrate."

Albert Finney

He shunned both a CBE in 1980 and a knighthood two decades later. The Bourne actor lambasted the honours system, terming knighthoods as a symptom of sickness that "perpetuates snobbery".

Andrew Davies

The Welsh scriptwriter famed for House of Cards and his version of Pride and Prejudice, reportedly refused an honour, though his motives remain undisclosed.

Alan Rickman

The cherished actor is believed to have declined a CBE during his lifetime. He never disclosed why, and after his death, there has been a movement seeking to award him a knighthood posthumously, but no progress on this has emerged.

John Lydon

Known for his renegade spirit, he was offered an MBE. Being a former member of the Sex Pistols, whose track God Save the Queen hit the charts during Her Majesty's silver jubilee, it comes as little surprise that he rejected the honour.

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