Harry Kane is to receive the honour at a ceremony in January
(Picture: Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)Footballer Harry Kane, who plays as a striker for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and is captain of the England football team, will be granted the Freedom of the City of London award.
The 29-year-old has said that he is “proud and grateful” to be receiving the award in recognition of his outstanding sporting achievements. He will receive it at a ceremony in January.
He was nominated for the award by the City of London Corporation’s policy chairman Chris Hayward and deputy policy chairman Keith Bottomley.
What is the Freedom of the City of London award?
The Honorary Freedom of the City of London award is a recognition of lifetime achievement or high international standing. The granting of the award is extremely rare and generally given today only to royalty, heads of state, or figures of global standing.
In 1996 Nelson Mandela, as president of South Africa, received the same honour. And in 2013, after a gap of 11 years, Archbishop Desmond Tutu received the award at a ceremony at Mansion House.
Who else has received the Freedom of the City of London award?
Some of the names of people who have received the Freedom or Honorary Freedom over the years include:
Royals
- Elizabeth II (1947)
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1948)
- Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1953)
- Charles, Prince of Wales (1971)
- Anne, Princess Royal (1976)
- Diana, Princess of Wales (1987)
- Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (2011)
Prime ministers
- Winston Churchill (1943)
- Clement Attlee (1953)
- Margaret Thatcher (1989)
Entertainment and the arts
- Dame Barbara Windsor (2010)
- Simon Russell Beale (2011)
- Colin Firth (2012)
- J K Rowling (2012)
- Dame Judi Dench
- Sir Michael Caine (2013)
- Bob Geldof (2013)
- Henry Winkler (2014)
- Dame Joan Collins (2014)
- Sir Ian McKellen (2014)
- Morgan Freeman (2014)
- Stephen Fry
- Eddie Redmayne
- Ronnie Wood (2021)
- Tommy Steele (2021)
- Ed Sheeran (2022)
