List of people who have declined a British honour

Reasons for rejection

• Opposition to specific governmental actions or policy.
• Anti-monarchism.
• Inappropriate due to the nature of the individual's work or position, or would attract unwanted attention.
• Personal opinion of pretension.
• Anti-imperialism or general unwillingness to be associated with the former British Empire
• Inadequate recognition of the individual or a spouse, partner, friend or colleague.
• The archaic nature of the honour, notably with regards to peerages, knighthoods and baronetcies, or that honours conferring titles are meaningless in a modern society.
• Feelings that the honours system both reflects and reinforces social class distinctions, and diminishes the chance of a more equal and fairer society.
• Biased nature of the honours system, or feelings that undeserving people have been decorated.
• To hide real wealth and business connections from the public realm.
• Religious reasons
• Specifically of peerages, to maintain eligibility for election to the House of Commons

Identities of those who declined an honour or title

Honours declined

Kingdom

• In 1657, Oliver Cromwell, already Head of State and Head of Government, was offered the crown by Parliament as part of a revised constitutional settlement; he had been "instrumental" in abolishing the monarchy after the English Civil War. Cromwell agonised for six weeks over the offer. In a speech on 13 April 1657, he gave his opinion that the office of monarch, once abolished, should stay so: "I would not seek to set up that which Providence hath destroyed and laid in the dust, and I would not build Jericho again."

  Dukedom

• Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister, was offered the Dukedom of London, but declined in order to remain in the House of Commons, and to allow his son Randolph a political career; Randolph died only three years after his father, so the dukedom would have had little time to affect his career as he had already been out of the Commons for ten years.
• Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister.
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, politician.
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister in 1886, and 1892 and possibly in 1901 – citing the prohibitive cost of the lifestyle that dukes were expected to maintain. According to Scribner's Magazine in 1900, "It is true that the Marquis of Salisbury might have been a Duke if he had not regarded his marquisate as a prouder title than a new dukedom could furnish."
• Prince Louis of Battenberg, in 1917 during the First World War, when he was forced to renounce his German title. Offered a dukedom by George V, but declined as he could not afford the lavish lifestyle expected of a duke; accepted the Marquessate of Milford Haven instead.
• Maria Fitzherbert, mistress and wife of King George IV; his brother King William IV, hearing her story after George's death, asked her to accept a dukedom but she refused, asking only permission to wear widow's weeds, and to dress her servants in royal livery.

  Marquessate

• Sir Alexander Cambridge.
• Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood.
• John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer.

  Earldom

• Henry Addington.
• Leo Amery, politician.
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
• Arthur Balfour, former Prime Minister.
• R. A. Butler, politician.
• Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, declined the Earldom of Wiltshire on his death bed in 1596.
• Neville Chamberlain.
• Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville,, politician.
• Anthony Eden.
• William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister.
• William Legge, had also declined a knighthood; his son was created Baron Dartmouth instead.
• Harold Macmillan.
• Angus Ogilvy.
• Mark Phillips.
• R. H. Tawney Attlee himself later accepted an hereditary earldom.

  Viscountcy

• Charles Booth, disenchanted with politics, declined Gladstone's overtures; created a Privy Councillor by Balfour in 1904.
• John Grigg, 2nd Baron Altrincham, writer, historian and politician.
• Arthur Henderson, declined offer of peerage by Ramsay MacDonald in 1931.
• John Henry Whitley, retiring Speaker of the House of Commons.

  Barony

• George Macaulay Booth, Director of the Bank of England; declined Lloyd George's offer.
• Leonard Elmhirst, philanthropist; declined Clement Attlee's offer in 1946, replying: "My own work, however, as you know, has lain in the main among country people ... in India, the USA and in Devonshire ... acceptance would neither be easy for me to explain nor easy for my friends to comprehend."
• Sir Thomas Holderness, retiring Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India, refused in 1920 on financial grounds, although he accepted a baronetcy.
• Billy Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia; declined Lloyd George's offer 1916
• Sir Alan Lascelles, Private Secretary to the Sovereign; declined in 1953 as he felt titles to be a show of self-importance.
• T. P. O'Connor, journalist and Irish Nationalist MP 1880–1929, declined the offer from Lloyd George.
• Frank Pick, Chief Executive of London Transport in the 1930s.
• Joseph Strutt, soldier and MP, declined all honours, but suggested the offer be transferred to his wife instead, which was done.

  Life peerage (barony)

• Isaiah Berlin,, philosopher.
• Rodney Bickerstaffe, trade union leader and socialist; General Secretary of UNISON. Declined Blair's offer in 2000, reportedly saying that to accept would betray his socialist beliefs.
• Tony Blair, former Prime Minister, stating the House of Lords was "not my sort of thing".
• Albert Booth, Labour MP and Cabinet Minister
• Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister. Was in favour of an elected upper house.
• David Cameron, former Prime Minister.
• John Cleese, film and television actor, comedian.
• Nigel Farage, MEP, leader of the Brexit Party.
• Jean Floud, sociologist, Nuffield College Oxford. Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, declined a peerage.
• Michael Foot, former Labour Party Leader.
• John Freeman, Labour MP, journalist, broadcaster, diplomat, and businessman.
• Geoffrey Goodman, journalist.
• Sir Edward Heath, former Prime Minister. Preferred to retain seat as an MP, he personally disapproved of political honours while realizing their usefulness as a source of political patronage.
• Thomas Jackson, trade union leader, 1979.
• Jack Jones, trade union leader, on several occasions, as he advocated the abolition of the House of Lords.
• Sir John Major, outgoing Prime Minister.
• Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster.
• Enoch Powell, Conservative and Ulster Unionist MP.
• J. B. Priestley, novelist and playwright.
• Norman Willis, General-Secretary, TUC.

• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
• Charles, Prince of Wales
• Prince Andrew, Duke of York
• Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

  Baronetcy

• Charles Babbage, scientist, declined both a knighthood and baronetcy.
• Hall Caine, novelist and playwright, declined baronetcy in 1917; accepted knighthood in 1918.
• John Grubb Richardson, declined, citing his religious beliefs.
• Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate, declined baronetcy in 1865 and 1868; later accepted peerage in 1884 on William Ewart Gladstone's urging.

Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter

• Charles Vincent Massey, had to refuse the Garter due to the Government of Canada's policy on peerages and knighthoods.

  Knighthood (Knight Bachelor)

• T. S. Ashton, economic historian, Professor of Economic History, University of London.
• Frank Auerbach, artist, declined knighthood in 2003.
• Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International; was offered several times, but refused on each occasion, citing human rights abuses in which the British government was complicit.
• Alan Bennett, playwright.
• Arnold Bennett, novelist, declined knighthood offered for service in running the British government's French propaganda department during World War I.
• David Bowie, musician.
• Danny Boyle, theatre and film director.
• Lester Brain, aviator and airline executive.
• Joseph Conrad, novelist
• Francis Crick, physicist, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA; was also offered a CBE in 1963, but did not accept it.
• Hugh Cudlipp.
• Paul Dirac, scientist, declined a knighthood in 1953, reportedly in part due to his dislike of being addressed by his first name, but probably had egalitarian objections to titles, having lived in the USA for many years; finally accepted an Order of Merit in 1973 as it was not a title.
• Bernie Ecclestone, businessman and Formula One boss. He stated in a 2019 interview that while he was glad if he had done some good, this was not his main intention when setting out in business, so he did not feel he deserved an honour.
• Michael Faraday, scientist: "I must remain plain Michael Faraday to the last".
• Harry Ferguson, businessman, engineer and inventor; twice offered and declined knighthood in the last ten years of his life; in response to a letter from Winston Churchill offering to submit his name, Ferguson declined on the ground that knighthoods should be reserved for servicemen and statesmen, whose financial rewards were relatively small, and should not be given to businessmen or industrialists with financial wealth.
• Albert Finney, actor.
• E. M. Forster, author and essayist; declined knighthood in 1949, but accepted a Companion of Honour in the 1953 New Year Honours list and an Order of Merit in 1969.
• Michael Frayn, novelist and dramatist; declined a knighthood in the 2003 New Year Honours and a CBE four years previously; Frayn stated: "I haven't done this for reasons of modesty. I like the name 'Michael Frayn'; it's a nice little name to run around with. I've spent 70 years getting used to it and I don't want to change it now."
• John Freeman, politician, journalist, diplomat, business executive. Also declined a peerage.
• John Galsworthy, playwright, declined knighthood in 1918 New Year Honours, but accepted appointment to the Order of Merit in 1929 as it was not a title.
• Graham Greene, novelist
• Herbert Hart, Professor of Jurisprudence, Oxford in 1966, believed state honours should only be given and accepted for public service.
• Stanford G. Haughton, sound recordist/musician.
• Stephen Hawking, physicist, reportedly turned down a knighthood because he "does not like titles."
• Bill Hayden, Governor-General of Australia.
• Patrick Heron, artist, declined a knighthood allegedly over the education policy of the government in the 1980s.
• Peter Higgs,, physicist, Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Edinburgh; co-discoverer of the Higgs boson in 1999, because he felt honours are used for political purposes by the government. He later accepted appointment to the Order of the Companions of Honour, because he was assured that it was the personal gift of the Queen, in 2013.
• Keith Hill, Labour MP; declined knighthood in 2010 Dissolution Honours, stating: "My fundamental reason is that I have never had the least desire to have a title. I don't want to be discourteous, but I find the whole idea a little embarrassing and too much for me."
• David Hockney,, artist.
• Aldous Huxley, author.
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan; offered a knighthood in 1925, he replied: "I prefer to be plain Mr Jinnah".
• Rudyard Kipling, writer, and poet; declined knighthood in 1899 and again in 1903; his wife stated 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".
• T. E. Lawrence, Arabist, archaeologist, soldier; King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined.
• Essington Lewis, Australian mining magnate.
• Edgar Lobel, Romanian-British classicist and papyrologist;.
• L. S. Lowry, artist.
• Arthur Mann, then editor of the Yorkshire Post, declined two knighthoods in the 1920s on the basis that accepting would interfere with his journalism; upon retirement he became a Companion of Honour.
• Kingsley Martin, journalist and successful editor of the 'New Statesman' reaching its highest circulation in the 1930s and 1940s. He declined the 'honour' in 1965 because he strongly disapproved of the honours system, certainly for journalists.
• John Loudon McAdam, Scottish road builder.
• Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum ; in 2010 he accepted appointment to the Order of Merit, the personal gift of the British monarch.
• Michael Meacher, Labour politician
• James Meade, economist, civil servant, and academic. Adviser to the Labour Government 1945-51; Professor of Economics LSE; Nobel Prize Economics 1974
• Stanley Morison, typographer.
• Robert Neild, economic adviser Labour government 1964-67. Professor of Economics Cambridge University
• A. G. Norman, scientist.
• William Pember Reeves, New Zealand politician, declined knighthood three times, including GCMG.
• Frank Pick, chief executive of London Transport.
• Harold Pinter, playwright
• Anthony Powell, novelist, earlier accepted CBE and later the OM
• J. B. Priestley, playwright and novelist.
• B. A. Santamaria, Australian Catholic social campaigner.
• Amartya Sen, economist and Nobel Prize winner.
• George Bernard Shaw, playwright, critic, and socialist; also declined OM.
• Paul Scofield, actor.
• Quentin Skinner, historian; Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge; republican.
• Peter Tatchell, human rights activist and campaigner
• A.J.P. Taylor, historian, probably due to anti-Establishment views - eg,'The Establishment draws its recruits from outside as soon as they are ready to conform to its standards and become respectable. There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the Establishment - and nothing so corrupting.
• Ian Taylor, oil company executive.
• J. Steven Watson, historian, declined offer of knighthood twice, in 1960 and after becoming Principal of St. Andrews University in 1966.
• Patrick White, Australian writer, Nobel Prize for Literature.
• John Walpole Willis, colonial judge, barrister and author, refused a knighthood at least twice.
• John Henry Whitley, Liberal MP and Speaker of the House of Commons
• Norman Willis, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress; "turned down a knighthood offered to him by John Major, just as he had turned aside a proposal from the Labour leader John Smith that he might consider going into the House of Lords".
• Bill Woodfull, Australian cricketer; turned down offer of a knighthood for services to cricket in 1934, but accepted OBE for services to education in 1963 which he saw as more important work than playing cricket.
• John Zachary Young, neurophysiologist

  Appointment to the Order of the Bath

As Knight Companion (KB)

• Admiral George Cranfield Berkeley in 1812, expecting a peerage; he later settled for the KCB in 1813; elevated to GCB in 1815.

  As Companion (CB)

• Colonel Allday V. Kerrison.
• Bernard O'Brien, scientist.

  Appointment to the Order of Merit (OM)

• W. H. Auden, poet
• Rudyard Kipling.
• A. E. Housman, poet and classical scholar.
• George Bernard Shaw, playwright, critic, and polemicist. Shaw had wanted to decline the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925, but accepted it at his wife's behest as honouring Ireland. He did not reject the monetary award, requesting it be used to finance translation of Swedish books into English.
• H. G. Wells, writer.

  Appointment to the Order of the Star of India

As Knight Commander (KCSI)

• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri.

  Appointment to the Order of St Michael and St George

As Knight Grand Cross Commander (GCMG)

• Faimalaga Luka, Governor-General and Prime Minister of Tuvalu.

  As Knight Commander (KCMG)

• Alfred Deakin, future Prime Minister of Australia.
• Philip Fysh, Tasmanian politician. Later accepted the title in 1896.
• George Trefgarne, 1st Baron Trefgarne, politician.

  As Companion (CMG)

• Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Ceylonese civil servant.

  Appointment to the Order of the Indian Empire

As a Companion (CIE)

• Narayan Malhar Joshi, Member of the Bombay Corporation and Indian Legislative Assembly; delegate to the ILO and Round Table Conferences.

  Appointment to the Royal Victorian Order

As a Commander (CVO)

• Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan, in 1999, for reasons of Scottish nationalism and republicanism.

  Appointment as a Companion of Honour (CH)

• W. H. Auden, poet
• Francis Bacon, artist.
• Robert Graves, poet and novelist.
• L. S. Lowry, artist.
• Ben Nicholson, artist.
• Philip Noel-Baker, former Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, 1965 New Year Honours.
• J. B. Priestley, writer also refused a knighthood and a peerage.
• Virginia Woolf, writer. 'I don't take honours'. She also declined honorary degrees and other awards, but accepted a few literary prizes.
• Leonard Woolf, writer/publisher.

  Appointment to the Order of the British Empire

As a Knight Grand Cross (GBE)

• Charles Wilson, 1st Baron Moran – offered for services as chairman of a government committee but declined, commenting it was "the sort of thing given to civil servants".
• Sir Harry Shackleton.

  As a Knight Commander (KBE)

• T. E. Lawrence, Arabist, archaeologist, soldier, aircraftsman, writer.
• Calouste Gulbenkian, philanthropist.
• John Hubert Penson, botanist.
• David Bowie.

  As a Dame Commander (DBE)

• Dorothy Hodgkin, scientist, Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1964.
• Glenda Jackson, actress and politician.
• Doris Lessing,, author. Nobel Prize for Literature.
• Geraldine McEwan, actress.
• Vanessa Redgrave, actress, accepted CBE in 1967; declined damehood in 1999.
• Bridget Riley, artist.
• Dorothy Wedderburn, academic, Principal of Royal Holloway and Bedford College London, 1980–90.

  As a Commander (CBE)

• Richard Ithamar Aaron, philosopher, Professor of Philosophy, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.
• Ian Albery, theatre producer.
• W. Godfrey Allen, architect; Surveyor of the Fabric of Gloucester Cathedral.
• Martin Amis, novelist.
• Nick Anstee, former Lord Mayor of London.
• Francis Bacon, artist.
• J. G. Ballard, author.
• Julian Barnes, novelist.
• Jim Baty. trade unionist, General Secretary of ASLEF 1946–1952.
• Wilfred Beard, General Secretary, United Patternmakers' Association.
• Clive Bell, art critic.
• Alan Bennett, playwright.
• Honor Blackman, actress.
• David Bowie, musician.
• John Carey, academic and literary critic.
• Julie Christie, film actress.
• John Cleese, actor/comedian.
• Prunella Clough, painter.
• John Cole, journalist, latterly BBC Political Editor.
• David Cornwell, author.
• Francis Crick, scientist, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.
• Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One commercial rights.
• Brian Eno, musician.
• Peter Finch, film and stage actor.
• Albert Finney, actor.
• C. S. Forester, novelist.
• Michael Frayn novelist and dramatist.
• Stephen Frears, film director.
• Lucian Freud, artist.
• Jack Gallagher, historian, Beit Professor of Commonwealth History, Oxford.
• Robert Graves, poet and novelist.
• Graham Greene, author .
• Trevor Griffiths, playwright.
• John Gross, author, literary critic and journalist.
• Claude Herbert Grundy, Queen's Remembrancer.
• Jocelyn Herbert, stage designer.
• Trevor Howard, film and stage actor in 1982.
• Elgar Howarth, conductor and composer.
• John Ireland, composer.
• Leon Kossoff, painter.
• Walter Lassally, cinematographer.
• T. E. Lawrence, World War I British Army officer, archaeologist, Arabist, RAF aircraftsman, and writer, popularly known as "Lawrence of Arabia"; later declined a knighthood.
• F.R. Leavis, literary critic. Refused in 1966; but later accepted appointment as CH.
• James Lees-Milne, writer and expert on English country houses and long-time associate of the National Trust.
• C. S. Lewis, author, theologian, Oxford professor.
• Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London, due to be honoured for his services to the 2012 Olympics.
• L. S. Lowry, artist.
• Philip MacDonald, author ; he thought the honours system added to the class-ridden nature of English society.
• Malcolm McDowell, actor.
• George Melly, musician, writer, critic, artist and raconteur.
• Mary Midgley, philosopher.
• Stanley Morison.
• Ben Nicholson, artist.
• Seán O'Casey, playwright.
• Gareth Peirce, solicitor..
• Lionel Penrose, Professor of Medical Genetics, University College London, 1945–65.
• Cedric Price, architect.
• Karel Reisz, Czech-born film director.
• Tony Richardson, film and theatre director, in 1987.
• Andrew Robertson, Professor of Mechanical Engineering University of Bristol ; reportedly disapproved of the honours system.
• R. E. Robinson, historian later Beit Professor of Commonwealth History, Oxford.
• Paul Rogers, stage and screen actor, mainly known for classical roles at the Old Vic and for Royal Shakespeare Co.
• Alan Sillitoe, novelist
• Robert Simpson, composer.
• Savenaca Siwatibau, Fijian academic.
• David Storey, playwright and novelist.
• Frank Swinnerton, novelist and critic.
• Sue Townsend novelist and playwright.
• Claire Tomalin, writer.
• Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist, in 2000.
• Leslie Waddington, art gallery chairman.
• Evelyn Waugh, novelist.
• Paul Weller, musician.
• Garfield Weston, businessman.
• Hugo Young, journalist, writer, and Chair of the Scott Trust

  As an Officer (OBE)

• Peter Alliss, golfer and commentator.
• Lindsay Anderson, theatre and film director.
• Nancy Banks-Smith, Guardian journalist, declined OBE, 1970.
• Leonard Barden, British chess champion and writer.
• Stanley Baxter, actor and comedian
• Michael Bogdanov, theatre director.
• Jim Broadbent, actor.
• Eleanor Bron, actress and writer.
• Jez Butterworth, playwright, 2016.
• Peter Capaldi, actor, director and writer.
• Caryl Churchill, playwright.
• Prunella Clough, painter, later declined CBE in 1979.
• Andrew Cruickshank, actor.
• Roy Curthoys, journalist ; accepted CMG in 1958.
• Roald Dahl, author.
• Eleanor Farjeon, author and poet.
• Dawn French, comedian and actress.
• Patrick French, author, biographer, academic in 2003.
• Pam Gems, dramatist/playwright.
• Henry Green, novelist.
• Hughie Green, TV personality,.
• Graham Greene, author later also declined the CBE.
• Laurence Harbottle, lawyer, services to theatre.
• George Harrison, former Beatle, reportedly he felt he deserved a knighthood, as his fellow ex-Beatle Paul McCartney had been awarded in 1997, however, he made no official comment on the matter before he died in 2001.
• Tony Harrison, poet and playwright.
• Hamish Henderson, poet and folklorist
• H. F. Hutchinson, art historian.
• Saiful Islam, Chemistry Professor.
• Hattie Jacques, actress/comedian.
• Philip Larkin poet and librarian in 1968.
• Nigella Lawson, chef, gourmand, television personality/presenter; cookery writer.
• Nicholas Le Prevost, actor.
• Doris Lessing, author.
• Ken Loach, film director : "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.".
• L. S. Lowry, artist.
• Michael MacDonnell, doctor, journalist and broadcaster, declined an OBE in 1997
• John McCormick, Controller, BBC Scotland.
• Ian McDiarmid, actor, theatre director.
• Geraldine McEwan, actress in 1986.
• Paul McGuigan, filmmaker.
• Kenneth McKellar, Popular Scottish tenor.
• Ivan Margary, historian.
• Hank Marvin, guitarist.
• Doreen Massey, Professor of Geography.
• Alan Mattingly, Ramblers' Association.
• Stanley Middleton, novelist and educationalist.
• Ernest Milton, classical actor.
• Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan.
• Max Newman, mathematician and wartime codebreaker.
• Bill Nighy, actor.
• Iorwerth Peate, poet and scholar.
• Eric Porter, actor.
• Alan Rickman, actor.
• T. F. O. Rippingham, architect.
• Michèle Roberts, author.
• Michael Rosen, author and poet.
• Anthony Sampson, author/journalist.
• Jennifer Saunders, comedian and actress.
• Nitin Sawhney, musician "I wouldn't like anything with the word 'empire' after my name." Apparently changed his mind, as he later accepted a CBE.
• Phil Scraton, professor of criminology "I could not receive an honour on the recommendation of those who remained unresponsive to the determined efforts of bereaved families and survivors to secure truth and justice." "I could not accept an honour tied in name to the 'British empire.
• Jon Snow, newscaster
• Katherine Whitehorn, journalist, later accepted a CBE after retirement from regular journalism.
• Bransby Williams, actor/monologuist.
• Grace Williams, composer.
• Kenneth Williams, actor and comedian. "When offered something which obviously isn't worth the price... we still have the right to say 'No thanks. He also declined several awards, e.g Radio Personality of the Year Award 1968, 'and it gives me considerable satisfaction to turn down one of these spurious 'awards'.
• Michael Winner, film director
• Susannah York, stage and film actress.
• Benjamin Zephaniah, poet, stating: "I get angry when I hear the word 'empire'; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised."
• John Oliver, comic and TV host/producer.

  As a Member (MBE)

• Eileen Agar, artist.
• John Allen, political adviser to Prime Minister Harold Wilson, declined honour in 1969.
• Major Derek Allhusen, Olympic equestrian gold medallist, 1969 New Year Honours.
• Marcel Aurousseau, Australian geologist, 1956 New Year Honours.
• Rowena Cade, founder of the Minack Theatre, Cornwall.
• Patrick Collins, sports journalist and author.
• Joseph Corré, co-founder of Agent Provocateur
• Edward Tegla Davies, Wesleyan Methodist minister and a popular Welsh language writer.
• John Dunn, broadcaster.
• Lynn Faulds Wood, TV presenter ; "I would love to have an honour if it didn't have the word 'empire' on the end of it. We don't have an empire, in my opinion."
• Howard Gayle, first black footballer to play for Liverpool FC. Declined the MBE in 2016 saying it would be "a betrayal" to Africans who suffered at the hands of the British Empire.
• Marjorie Hebden, declined MBE for services to the Malvern Museum.
• David Heckels, declined MBE for charitable services to the arts.
• Bob Holman, community activist in Easterhouse, 2012 birthday honours.
• Gwendoline Laxon, declined MBE for services to charity.
• Susan Loppert, art historian.
• John Lydon, musician.
• George Mpanga, poet and lyricist
• John Pandit aka Pandit G, musician, 2002, does not believe in the honours system, says acknowledgement should be given by funding projects.
• Kim Philby senior intelligence officer MI6, journalist, and Soviet spy, declined in 1946, but after his defection to the Soviet Union accepted the Order of the Red Banner
• Doris Purnell, declined MBE for services to drama.
• John Sales, head gardener.
• Joan Smith, journalist, declined MBE as it was counter to the views she had spoken about in her career, i.e. atheism, feminism and republicanism.
• T. W. Taylor schoolteacher.
• Jonzi D, writer, choreographer and rap artist, declined MBE for services to the arts in 2012, saying subsequently: "I am diametrically opposed to the idea of empire. Man, I'm a Star Wars fan – empire is bad."
• Alan Watkins, journalist, political columnist.

  Renouncing an honour

• Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, journalist.
• Roy Bailey, folk singer.
• Carla Lane, television writer.
• John Lennon, musician.
• Gareth Peirce, solicitor.
• Narindar Saroop, soldier and Tory politician. Returned CBE in 2016 in disgust at the "Dishonours List" of David Cameron "showering peerages, knighthoods and other rewards on friends and party backers".
• Susan Wighton, AIDS worker.

• Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, cricketer.
• Rabindranath Tagore, author and poet and Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, 1913.
• C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, lawyer, parliamentarian and administrator.
• Khwaja Nazimuddin, nobleman, administrator and politician who served as the Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951 and as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1951–1953.