15 Famous Names Who Turned Down British Honours

If Zephaniah was angry in his rejection, John Cleese was instead apathetic about the whole system. Back in 1996, the Monty Python star turned down the opportunity of a CBE, reportedly labelling the prospect as ‘silly’.

Cleese has been a long-time donor of the Liberal Democrats party, and in 1999 he was offered the chance to take his place in the House of Commons as a working peer for the party. He declined this, too, stating the prospect of living in England throughout winter (a mandatory requirement of life peers) as “too much of a price to pay”.