15 Famous Names Who Turned Down British Honours
3. Rudyard Kipling
Most well known now for his short stories since adapted into the Disney classic ‘The Jungle Book’, the author and soldier (albeit not, disappointingly, the purveyor of 'exceedingly good cakes') born in British-occupied India was, like L.S. Lowry, another prodigious rejecter of honours. He declined the offer of a knighthood twice, as well as turning down the Order of Merit on another two occasions. Kipling’s wife explained he felt he could “do his work better without it”.