The honours given out by the King – and for decades before him by the Queen – always generate a lot of chatter. They can be (and have been) used to recognise ordinary people for the extraordinary good they've done like the 81-year-old nurse given the British Empire Medal for a life spent helping others.
But some other appointments – often peerages handed out to give people a seat in the House of Lords – become political and very controversial, especially due to the Prime Minister's influence in them being handed out.
Over the years there have been plenty of celebrities who turned down knighthoods, peerage,s and OBEs for one reason or another. The list includes Cardiff-born Roald Dahl, two members of the Beatles, and several Prime Ministers.
