15 Famous Names Who Turned Down British Honours

Celebrated poet Benjamin Zephaniah didn’t take kindly to the offer of an OBE back in 2003. Writing in The Guardian, he explained:

“Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word "empire"; it 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. It is because of this concept of empire that my British education led me to believe that the history of black people started with slavery and that we were born slaves, and should therefore be grateful that we were given freedom by our caring white masters.”

Whilst also adding:

“Let me make it clear: I have nothing against her [the queen] or the royal family. It is the institution of the monarchy that I loathe so very much, the monarchy that still refuses to apologise for sanctioning slavery.”