Many people have been created honorary knights or dames by the British crown. There are also those that have been appointed to two comparable orders, the Order of Merit and the Order of the Companions of Honour, and those that have had conferred on them the decoration of the Royal Victorian Chain; none of these carries pre-nominal styles.

Honorary awards Use of pre-nominal styles and post-nominal initials An honorary award is one made to a person who is not a citizen of a Commonwealth realm. He or she cannot use the pre-nominal style of 'Sir' or 'Dame', but can use the post-nominal letters (after their names), subject to the prevailing conventions in his or her own country. If such a person later acquires citizenship of a Commonwealth realm, then any honorary awards usually become substantive, and in the case of knights and dames they can begin to use the pre-nominal styles. However this is not automatic. The person must be dubbed by the King or his delegate in order to be entitled to use the pre-nominal style. If the knighthood is in an order which has a special class for honorary knighthoods, a change to a regular class of knighthoods is also required.

Loss of citizenship of a British realm Citizens of a country which was a full part of the British Empire or Commonwealth when they received the honour (i.e. who were British subjects at the time), were substantive knights or dames, not honorary. The knighthood does not become honorary, and the person may choose to use his or her title(s), after their country becomes a republic. Citizens of British protectorates and mandated territories usually received honorary awards. Notable exceptions were rulers of the Indian princely states and their subjects, who were de jure British protected persons and not British subjects, but who received substantive knighthoods.

Annulment and restoration In certain circumstances, an honorary award may be annulled (i.e. revoked). The effect is that, officially, the person is considered never to have been given the award, their name is erased from the order's register, and they are required to return all insignia. This happens when the Sovereign issues a signed and sealed ordinance cancelling and annulling the appointment. This is not common and in practice only occurs where the recipient has engaged in serious detrimental activities, e.g. following a conviction for serious crimes, or for hostile acts against the United Kingdom. In even rarer circumstances, an annulled award may later be restored by the Sovereign. Details of known annulments and restorations are annotated in the table below.

Order of the Garter terminology The Order of the Garter uses terminology different from that of most other British orders. 'Stranger/Extra Knights Companion of the Garter' and 'Stranger/Extra Ladies Companion of the Order of the Garter' are the equivalent of 'Honorary Knights' and 'Honorary Dames' in other orders. As with other orders, the pre-nominal styles 'Sir' and 'Lady' are not used by Extra Knights and Extra Ladies. Revoked appointments are said to be 'degraded' rather than 'annulled'; the effect, however, is the same.

Arts and entertainment

+ List of honorary British Knights and Dames Name Nationality Honour Year Category Notes Daniel Barenboim Argentina / Israel KBE 2011 Arts/entertainment Pianist and conductor Jorge Luis Borges Argentina KBE 1964 Arts/entertainment Poet and writer Alfred Brendel Austria KBE 1989 Arts/entertainment Pianist Julien Cain France KBE 1952 Arts/entertainment Administrator-general of the Bibliothèque nationale de France for services to British cultural issues. see also :fr:Julien Cain Ralf Dahrendorf Germany KBE 1982 Arts/entertainment Became a British national in 1988 Christian Conrad Sophus, Count Danneskiold-Samsøe Denmark KCVO 1904 Arts/entertainment Anna Morpurgo Davies Italy DBE 2000 Arts/entertainment Plácido Domingo Spain KBE 2002 Arts/entertainment Opera singer; awarded for contributions to music and charity work Antal Doráti Hungary KBE 1983 Arts/entertainment Maurice Druon France KBE 1999 Arts/entertainment Previously appointed Honorary CBE in 1988. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. United States KBE 1949 Arts/entertainment In recognition of his work on behalf of Anglo-American amity, particularly as chairman in the United States of the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe. Naum Gabo Soviet Union KBE 1973 Arts/entertainment Mark Getty United States KBE 2015 Arts/entertainment Bernard Haitink Netherlands CH 2002 Arts/entertainment Musical director of the Royal Opera House Bernard Haitink Netherlands KBE 1977 Arts/entertainment Principal Conductor, London Philharmonic Orchestra for his enormous contribution to the artistic life of this country Bob Hope United States KBE 1998 Arts/entertainment Entertainer, for contribution to Anglo-American friendship He had lost British nationality in 1920. Bob Iger United States KBE 2022 Arts/entertainment Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Disney Company; awarded "for services to the UK/US relations." Magnus Magnusson Iceland KBE 1989 Arts/entertainment Ferdinand Meldahl Denmark GCVO 1904 Arts/entertainment Chamberlain to the King of Denmark and Vice President of the Royal Academy of Arts, Copenhagen. Yehudi Menuhin United States/Switzerland KBE 1965 Arts/entertainment Became a British national in 1985. Appointed a substantive Member of the Order of Merit in 1987. Spike Milligan Ireland KBE 2001 Arts/entertainment Comedian, awarded for services to entertainment Ettore Modigliani Italy KBE 1930 Arts/entertainment Arnaldo Momigliano Italy KBE 1974 Arts/entertainment Ann Murray Ireland DBE 2002 Arts/entertainment For services to music. Riccardo Muti Italy KBE 2000 Arts/entertainment Eugene Ormandy United States KBE 1976 Arts/entertainment Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, for contribution to Anglo-American friendship Ignacy Jan Paderewski Poland GBE 1925 Politics/governmentArts/Entertainment Roberto Paribeni Italy KBE 1930 Arts/entertainment Murray Perahia United States KBE 2004 Arts/entertainment Pianist, awarded for his services to music Libor Pešek Czech Republic KBE 1996 Arts/entertainment Sidney Poitier Bahamas/United States KBE 1974 Arts/entertainment Actor, director, activist and ambassador. Mario Praz Italy KBE 1962 Arts/entertainment André Previn United States KBE 1996 Arts/entertainment Mstislav Rostropovich United States KBE 1987 Arts/entertainment In 1990 he regained Russian citizenship, and held dual US/Russian citizenship. Arthur Rubinstein United States KBE 1977 Arts/entertainment Esa-Pekka Salonen Finland KBE 2020 Arts/entertainment Conductor and composer, awarded for services to music and UK-Finland relations. Ravi Shankar India KBE 2001 Arts/entertainment Georg Solti Germany KBE 1971 Arts/entertainment Musical Director, Covent Garden Opera Company Became a British national in 1972 and knighthood became substantive. Kevin Spacey United States KBE 2015 Arts/entertainment Previously appointed Honorary CBE in 2010. Steven Spielberg United States KBE 2001 Arts/entertainment Award-winning director credited with "doubling of cinema admission in the UK since the early 1980s" William Trevor Ireland KBE 2002 Arts/entertainment Previously appointed Honorary CBE in 1977. John Williams United States KBE 2022 Arts/entertainment Conductor, composer, and pianist; awarded for "services to film music" Terry Wogan Ireland KBE 2005 Arts/entertainment Took British nationality in 2005 and knighthood became substantive. Held dual British/Irish citizenship. James Wolfensohn United States/Australia KBE 1995 Arts/entertainment Born an Australian citizen, but relinquished this when he became an American citizen in 1980. In 2010, he regained his Australian citizenship. Franco Zeffirelli Italy KBE 2004 Arts/entertainment Stage and screen director; awarded for his "valuable services to British performing arts"

Politics and government