List of people who have declined a British honour

• 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."[9]

• 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 (in 1880; had previously accepted the Earldom of Beaconsfield).[10]
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, politician (1857).
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister in 1886,[11] and 1892 and possibly in 1901[12] – 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."[13]
• 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.[14]
• Maria Fitzherbert, mistress and wife (in a marriage never considered valid in England) 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.[15]

• Sir Alexander Cambridge (in 1917 accepted the Earldom of Athlone instead).
• Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood (in 1922, as he reportedly held the belief that marquessates tended to die out more quickly than earldoms).
• John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer (in the 1890s).

• Henry Addington (on his retirement as Prime Minister declined the Earldom of Banbury in 1804 as he wished to remain in the Commons; later accepted the Viscountcy of Sidmouth).
• Leo Amery, politician (declined in 1945).
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (declined the Earldom of Belmont in 1905 when it was offered to him in a plot to elevate him to the House of Lords and make him an ineffective Prime Minister in the Relugas Compact).[16]
• Arthur Balfour, former Prime Minister (in 1919,[17] accepted the Earldom of Balfour in 1922).
• R. A. Butler, politician (in 1964; accepted life peerage as Baron Butler of Saffron Walden in 1965).
• Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, declined the Earldom of Wiltshire on his death bed in 1596.
• Neville Chamberlain (on his retirement as Prime Minister in 1940, also declined appointment as KG).
• Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, politician (in 1809).
• Anthony Eden (on his retirement as Prime Minister in 1957; later accepted the Earldom of Avon in 1961).
• William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister (in 1885).
• William Legge, had also declined a knighthood; his son was created Baron Dartmouth instead.[18]
• Harold Macmillan (on his retirement as Prime Minister in 1963; later accepted the Earldom of Stockton in 1984).
• Angus Ogilvy (in 1963, upon his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Kent; later accepted a knighthood in 1988).
• Mark Phillips (in 1973, upon his marriage to Princess Anne).
• R. H. Tawney (twice declined an earldom, in 1920s and 1940s. Replied to Ramsay MacDonald's offer by asking what harm he had ever done the Labour Party, and to the offer from Clement Attlee he averred that he was surprised that Labour was still interested in such baubles).[19] Attlee later accepted an hereditary earldom.

• 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 (in 1928).

• 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."[20]
• Sir Thomas Holderness, retiring Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India, refused in 1920 on financial grounds, although he accepted a baronetcy.[21]
• Billy Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia; declined Lloyd George's offer 1916[22]
• Sir Alan Lascelles, Private Secretary to the Sovereign; declined in 1953 as he felt titles to be a show of self-importance.[23]
• 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 (of the barony of Rayleigh) be transferred to his wife instead, which was done.

Life peerages are offered to all former Prime Ministers when they step down as MPs. The last to accept a peerage was Margaret Thatcher in 1992. Her husband Denis was created a baronet. Four of her successors declined a peerage, whilst one (Theresa May) continues to serve as an MP.

• Isaiah Berlin, OM, philosopher (in 1980).[2]
• 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.[24][25]
• Tony Blair, former Prime Minister, stating the House of Lords was "not my sort of thing". In 1999, Blair’s government had significantly reduced the size of the House of Lords.[26]
• Albert Booth, Labour MP and Cabinet Minister 1974-79
• Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister, who was an advocate for an elected upper house.
• David Cameron, former Prime Minister, in line with his three predecessors.
• John Cleese, film and television actor, comedian (in 1999; stated that he "did not wish to spend winters in England" and being a peer would be "ridiculous", had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1996).[2][27]
• Jean Floud, sociologist, Nuffield College Oxford. Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, declined a peerage (in 1978).
• Michael Foot, former Labour Party Leader.[28]
• John Freeman, Labour MP, journalist, broadcaster, diplomat, and businessman.[29]
• Geoffrey Goodman, journalist.[30]
• Sir Edward Heath, former Prime Minister. Preferring to retain seat as an MP, he personally disapproved of political honours while realising their usefulness as a source of political patronage.
• Thomas Jackson, trade union leader, 1979.[31]
• Jack Jones, trade union leader, on several occasions, as he advocated the abolition of the House of Lords.[32]
• Sir John Major, outgoing Prime Minister (in 2001 as he thought a seat in the Lords was incompatible with retiring from politics; he later accepted appointment as KG).[33]
• Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster (in 2009; reportedly on advice from the Holy See due to concerns that it would compromise the Church's impartiality and a prohibition in canon law on priests holding political office).[34][35]
• Enoch Powell, Conservative and Ulster Unionist MP.
• J. B. Priestley, novelist and playwright (in 1965).[36]
• Joseph Robinson, a South African mining magnate, declined a peerage in 1922 after controversy arose regarding his nomination, which was given in exchange for political contributions.
• Norman Willis, General-Secretary, TUC.
• Tony Woodley, former General Secretary of Unite, initially turned down two offers of a peerage in 2018 and August 2020, before accepting in November 2020.[37][38]

As a part of the House of Lords reform in 1999, members of the Royal Family who were peers of the first creation were offered life peerages as a pure formality, which would have given them the right to sit in the House of Lords, but nobody seriously expected them to accept, and all declined with the exception of the Earl of Snowdon.[39] These included:

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

• Charles Babbage, scientist, declined both a knighthood and baronetcy.[40]
• Hall Caine, novelist and playwright, declined baronetcy in 1917; accepted knighthood in 1918.[41]
• John Grubb Richardson,[42] 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.

In addition to these, many offers of baronetcies have technically been declined, since this is a hereditary honour and was one way, until recent times, for the Crown to raise money from landed gentry. When a baronetcy becomes vacant on the death of a holder, the heir may choose not to register the proofs of succession, effectively declining the honour. The baronetcy can be revived at any time on provision of acceptable proofs of succession, by, say, the son of a son who has declined to register the proofs of succession.[43] As of December 2017 some 208 baronetcies are listed as awaiting proofs of succession.[44] Notable "refuseniks" include Jonathon Porritt, lately of Friends of the Earth, and journalist Ferdinand Mount.

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

• T. S. Ashton, economic historian, Professor of Economic History, University of London (in 1957).[45]
• Frank Auerbach, artist, declined knighthood in 2003.[3][46]
• 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.[47][48]
• Alan Bennett, playwright (in 1996; had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1988).[2]
• Arnold Bennett, novelist, declined knighthood offered for service in running the British government's French propaganda department during World War I.[49]
• H.A. Benyon, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, declined a KT in 1956
• David Bowie, musician (in 2003).[50]
• Danny Boyle, theatre and film director (in 2013).[51]
• Lester Brain, aviator and airline executive (in late 1960s; later accepted appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1979).[52]
• 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. Later accepted appoinment to the Order of Merit.[53]
• Hugh Cudlipp, newspaper editor (1966).[54]
• 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 US for many years;[55] finally accepted an Order of Merit in 1973 as it was not a title.[56]
• 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.[57]
• Michael Faraday, scientist: "I must remain plain Michael Faraday to the last".[58]
• 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.[59]
• Albert Finney, actor (in 2000; had previously declined CBE in 1980).[2]
• 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.[60][61]
• 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."[2]
• John Freeman, politician, journalist, diplomat, business executive. Also declined a peerage.[29]
• John Galsworthy, playwright, declined knighthood in 1918 New Year Honours,[62] but accepted appointment to the Order of Merit in 1929 as it was not a title.
• Graham Greene, novelist
• Calouste Gulbenkian, businessman and philanthropist (in 1951)
• Herbert Hart, Professor of Jurisprudence Oxford, in 1966 as he believed state honours should only be given for exceptional public service.
• Stanford G. Haughton, sound recordist/musician (in 1952).[45]
• Stephen Hawking CH CBE, physicist, reportedly turned down a knighthood because he "does not like titles."[63]
• Bill Hayden, Governor-General of Australia.[64]
• Patrick Heron, artist, declined a knighthood allegedly over the education policy of the government in the 1980s.[65]
• Peter Higgs, CH, 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 (wrongly) assured that it was the personal gift of the Queen, in 2013.[66][67][68]
• 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."[69]
• David Hockney, CH RA, artist (in 1990; accepted appointment as CH in 1997, and OM in 2012 because they are not titles).[2]
• A.R. Hurd, Conservative politician, in 1956
• Aldous Huxley, author (in 1959).[2]
• 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".[70] Kipling also declined the Order of Merit in 1921 and again in 1924.[71] 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.[72][73]
• Essington Lewis, Australian mining magnate.[74]
• Edgar Lobel, Romanian-British classicist and papyrologist; (in 1955).
• L. S. Lowry, artist (in 1968; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1955 and CBE in 1961; later twice declined appointment as CH (1972, 1976); holds the record for the most honours declined).[2]
• 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.[75]
• 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.[76]
• Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum (in 1999); in 2010 he accepted appointment to the Order of Merit, the personal gift of the British monarch.[45]
• Michael Meacher, Labour politician
• James Meade, economist, civil servant, and academic. Economic Adviser to the Treasury 1945–51; Professor of Economics LSE; Nobel Prize Economics 1974
• Stanley Morison, typographer (in 1953).[45]
• Robert Neild, economic adviser Labour government 1964–67. Professor of Economics Cambridge University
• A. G. Norman, scientist (in 1969).[45]
• William Pember Reeves, New Zealand politician, declined knighthood three times, including GCMG.[77]
• Frank Pick, chief executive of London Transport (also declined a peerage).[78]
• Harold Pinter, playwright
• John Piper, artist, declined a Kt in 1964
• Anthony Powell, novelist, earlier accepted CBE and later the OM
• William Poel, actor and Shakespearean director. Declined a knighthood twice.
• J. B. Priestley, playwright and novelist.
• B. A. Santamaria, Australian Catholic social campaigner.[79]
• Amartya Sen, economist and Nobel Prize winner.
• George Bernard Shaw, playwright, critic, and socialist; also declined OM.[80]
• Paul Scofield, actor (in 1968).[45]
• Quentin Skinner, historian; Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge; republican[81] (in 1996).
• Peter Tatchell, human rights activist and campaigner
• A.J.P. Taylor, historian, probably due to anti-Establishment views - e.g.,'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 while at Oxford, and after becoming Principal of St. Andrews University 1966
• Patrick White, Australian writer, Nobel Prize for Literature (1970).[82]
• John Walpole Willis, colonial judge, barrister and author, refused a knighthood at least twice.[83]
• John Henry Whitley, Liberal MP and Speaker of the House of Commons[84]
• 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".[85]
• 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.[86]
• John Zachary Young, neurophysiologist
• George Doughty in 1975 [87]

• Admiral George Cranfield Berkeley in 1812, expecting a peerage; he later settled for the KCB in 1813; elevated to GCB in 1815.[88]

• Colonel Allday V. Kerrison (in 1955).
• Bernard O'Brien, scientist (in 1956).

• W. H. Auden, poet
• Rudyard Kipling.
• A. E. Housman, poet and classical scholar (in 1929).[89]
• George Bernard Shaw, playwright, critic, and polemicist (in 1946; Shaw replied that "merit" in authorship could only be determined by the posthumous verdict of history).[80] 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.[90]
• H. G. Wells, writer.

• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (in 1928; accepted appointment as a Companion of Honour (CH) in 1930).[91]

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

• Alfred Deakin, future Prime Minister of Australia (1887).[92]
• Philip Fysh, Tasmanian politician (1891). Later accepted the title in 1896.[93]
• George Trefgarne, 1st Baron Trefgarne, politician (1951).[45]

• Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Ceylonese civil servant (1946).

• Narayan Malhar Joshi (1879–1955), Member of the Bombay Corporation (1919–1922) and Indian Legislative Assembly; delegate to the ILO and Round Table Conferences (refused in 1921, on the grounds he was too poor for the honour).[94][95]

• Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan (had previously declined appointments as LVO and OBE),[96] in 1999, for reasons of Scottish nationalism and republicanism.

• W. H. Auden, poet
• Francis Bacon, artist (in 1977; previously declined appointment as CBE in 1960).[2]
• Robert Graves, poet and novelist (in 1984; had previously declined appointment as CBE in 1957).[2]
• L. S. Lowry RA, artist (in 1972 and 1976; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1955 and CBE in 1961 and a knighthood in 1968; holds the record for the most honours declined).[2]
• Ben Nicholson, artist (in 1965).
• Philip Noel-Baker, former Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, 1965 New Year Honours[45] (accepted a life peerage in 1977).
• J. B. Priestley, writer (in 1969)[36] also refused a knighthood and a peerage (accepted OM in 1977).
• Virginia Woolf, writer. 'I don't take honours' (Diary 6 April 1933). She also declined honorary degrees and other awards ('all that humbug'), but accepted a few literary prizes.
• Leonard Woolf, writer/publisher (in 1966).

• Charles Wilson, 1st Baron Moran (in 1962) – offered for services as chairman of a government committee but declined, commenting it was "the sort of thing given to civil servants".[97]
• Sir Harry Shackleton (in the 1951 Birthday Honours List).[98]

• T. E. Lawrence, Arabist, archaeologist, soldier, aircraftsman, writer (in October 1918).
• Calouste Gulbenkian, philanthropist (in 1951 New Year Honours).[54]
• John Hubert Penson CB CMG MC, botanist.[99][98]
• David Bowie.

• Dorothy Hodgkin, scientist, Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1964 (later accepted OM).
• Glenda Jackson, actress and politician.
• Doris Lessing, CH, author (declined DBE in 1992, stating it was in the name of a non-existent Empire; also declined appointment as OBE in 1977; accepted appointment as CH as it is does not carry a title, in 2000).[2][100] Nobel Prize for Literature.
• Geraldine McEwan, actress[3] (in 2002; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1986).
• Vanessa Redgrave, actress, accepted CBE in 1967; declined damehood in 1999.[2]
• Bridget Riley, artist (accepted CH and CBE).
• Dorothy Wedderburn, academic, Principal of Royal Holloway and Bedford College London, 1980–90.

• Richard Ithamar Aaron, philosopher, Professor of Philosophy, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (in 1962 Birthday Honours).[45]
• Ian Albery, theatre producer.[3]
• W. Godfrey Allen, architect; Surveyor of the Fabric of Gloucester Cathedral (in 1957).[45]
• Martin Amis, novelist.
• Nick Anstee, former Lord Mayor of London (in 2010).
• Francis Bacon, artist (in 1960;.[45] later declined appointment as CH in 1977).
• J. G. Ballard, author (in 2003) "the honours system is a Ruritanian charade that helps to prop up the top-heavy monarchy.").[2]
• Julian Barnes, novelist.
• Jim Baty.[45] trade unionist, General Secretary of ASLEF 1946–1952 (in 1952).
• Wilfred Beard, General Secretary, United Patternmakers' Association (in 1959).[45]
• Clive Bell, art critic (in 1953).
• Alan Bennett, playwright (in 1988; later declined a knighthood in 1996).
• Honor Blackman, actress (in 2002;[2] she was a republican).[101]
• David Bowie, musician (in 2000;[2] later declined a knighthood in 2003).
• Francis Boyd, Guardian journalist, in 1967; accepted a knighthood in 1976.[102]
• John Carey, academic and literary critic.
• Julie Christie, film actress.
• John Cleese, actor/comedian (in 1996; he reportedly thought it was "silly", and later declined a life peerage).[2][27]
• Prunella Clough, painter (in 1979;.[45] previously declined OBE in 1968).
• John Cole, journalist, latterly BBC Political Editor (in 1993).[2]
• David Cornwell (uses John le Carré as nom de plume), author.
• Francis Crick, scientist, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA (in 1963;[45] later also refused a knighthood, but finally accepted appointment as OM in 1991).
• Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One commercial rights (in 1996).[2]
• Brian Eno, musician (in 2007).
• Peter Finch, film and stage actor.
• Albert Finney, actor (in 1980; also declined a knighthood in 2000).
• C. S. Forester, novelist (in 1953).
• Michael Frayn novelist and dramatist (in 1989; later declined a knighthood in 2003).
• Stephen Frears, film director.
• Lucian Freud, artist (in 1977; later accepted appointment as CH in 1983, and OM in 1993).[2]
• Jack Gallagher, historian, Beit Professor of Commonwealth History, Oxford.
• Robert Graves, poet and novelist (in 1957; later declined appointment as CH in 1984).
• Graham Greene, author (in 1956) (later accepted appointment as CH and OM, neither of which are titles granting rank or precedence).
• Trevor Griffiths, playwright.
• John Gross, author, literary critic and journalist.
• Claude Herbert Grundy, Queen's Remembrancer (in 1964).
• Jocelyn Herbert, stage designer (in 1981).
• Trevor Howard, film and stage actor in 1982.[2]
• Elgar Howarth, conductor and composer.[3]
• John Ireland, composer (in 1959).
• Leon Kossoff, painter.[3]
• 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 (in 1993).
• C. S. Lewis, author, theologian, Oxford professor (in 1951, declined in order to avoid association with any political issues).[98][103]
• Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London, due to be honoured for his services to the 2012 Olympics (turned down an honour in the 2013 New Years Honours due to his belief that politicians should not get such awards).[104]
• L. S. Lowry, artist (in 1961; had previously declined appointment as OBE in 1955; declined a knighthood in 1968, and later appointment as CH in 1972 and 1976; holds the record for the most honours declined).[2]
• Philip MacDonald, author (in 1952); he thought the honours system added to the class-ridden nature of English society.
• Malcolm McDowell, actor (in 1984).
• George Melly, musician, writer, critic, artist and raconteur (in 2001).[2]
• Mary Midgley, philosopher.
• Helen Mirren, actress (in 1996; accepted a damehood in 2003)[105]
• Stanley Morison (in 1962; also declined a knighthood).
• VS Naipaul, author (in 1977; accepted a knighthood in 1990)[106]
• Ben Nicholson, artist (in 1955; later declined appointment as CH in 1965).
• Seán O'Casey, playwright (in 1963).
• Lionel Penrose, Professor of Medical Genetics, University College London, 1945–65 (in 1967).
• Edith Pretty, benefactor (sometime in period 1940-1942)
• 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 (in 1965); reportedly disapproved of the honours system.
• R. E. Robinson, historian (in 1953) 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 (in 1980).
• Savenaca Siwatibau, Fijian academic.
• David Storey, playwright and novelist.
• Frank Swinnerton, novelist and critic (in 1969).
• Sue Townsend novelist and playwright.
• Claire Tomalin, writer.[3]
• Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist, in 2000.[2]
• Leslie Waddington, art gallery chairman.[3]
• Evelyn Waugh, novelist (in 1959, wanted a knighthood).[2]
• Paul Weller, musician (in 2007).
• Garfield Weston, businessman.[3]
• Hugo Young, journalist, writer, and Chair of the Scott Trust

• Peter Alliss, golfer and commentator (in 1992).[2]
• Lindsay Anderson, theatre and film director.
• Nancy Banks-Smith, Guardian journalist, declined OBE, 1970.[2]
• Leonard Barden, British chess champion and writer (in 1985).
• Stanley Baxter, actor and comedian[107]
• Michael Bogdanov, theatre director.
• Jim Broadbent, actor (in 2002).[2]
• Eleanor Bron, actress and writer.
• Jez Butterworth, playwright, 2016.
• Peter Capaldi, actor, director and writer.
• Caryl Churchill, playwright.
• Prunella Clough, painter (in 1968), later declined CBE in 1979.[45]
• Andrew Cruickshank, actor (in 1967).
• Roy Curthoys, journalist (in 1951); accepted CMG in 1958.[108]
• Roald Dahl, author (in 1986, wanted a knighthood).[2]
• Eleanor Farjeon, author and poet (in 1959).
• Dawn French, comedian and actress (in 2001).[3]
• Patrick French, author, biographer, academic in 2003.
• Pam Gems, dramatist/playwright.
• Henry Green, (1960) novelist.
• Hughie Green, TV personality, (in 1960).
• Graham Greene, author (in 1956) later also declined the CBE.[2]
• Laurence Harbottle, lawyer, services to theatre.[3]
• George Harrison, former Beatle (in 2000), 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.[109]
• Tony Harrison, poet and playwright.
• Hamish Henderson, poet and folklorist (in 1983, in protest against the Thatcher government's nuclear policies)[110]
• H. F. Hutchinson, art historian (in 1966).
• Saiful Islam, Chemistry Professor (in 2019).
• Hattie Jacques, actress/comedian (in 1974).
• Philip Larkin poet and librarian in 1968.[98]
• Nigella Lawson, chef, gourmand, television personality/presenter; cookery writer.[3]
• Nicholas Le Prevost, actor.
• Doris Lessing, author (in 1977; later declined appointment as DBE in 1992, because it is in the name of a non-existent Empire; accepted appointment as CH in 2000).[100]
• Ken Loach, film director (in 1977): "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.".[111]
• L. S. Lowry, artist (declined OBE in 1955, a CBE in 1961, a knighthood in 1968 and appointment as CH, twice, in 1972 and 1976; holds the record for the most honours declined).[2]
• Michael MacDonnell, doctor, journalist and broadcaster, declined an OBE in 1997
• Gina Martin, activist.
• John McCormick, Controller, BBC Scotland.[3]
• Ian McDiarmid, actor, theatre director.[3]
• Geraldine McEwan, actress in 1986 (later declined DBE in 2002).
• Paul McGuigan, filmmaker.
• Kenneth McKellar, Popular Scottish tenor.[112]
• Ivan Margary, historian (in 1960).
• Hank Marvin, guitarist (The Shadows).
• Doreen Massey, Professor of Geography.
• Alan Mattingly, Ramblers' Association.[3]
• Stanley Middleton, novelist and educationalist (in 1979).
• Ernest Milton, classical actor (in 1965).
• Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan (had previously declined appointment as LVO; later declined appointment as CVO).
• Max Newman, mathematician and wartime codebreaker (in 1946, in protest against the inadequacy of Alan Turing's OBE).[113]
• Bill Nighy, actor.
• Iorwerth Peate, poet and scholar (in 1963).
• Eric Porter, actor (in 1969).
• Alan Rickman, actor.
• T. F. O. Rippingham, architect (in 1951).[98]
• Michèle Roberts, author (in 2003).[114]
• Michael Rosen, author and poet.
• Anthony Sampson, author/journalist.
• Jennifer Saunders, comedian and actress (in 2001).
• Nitin Sawhney, musician (in 2007, for ethical reasons) "I wouldn't like anything with the word 'empire' after my name."[115] Apparently changed his mind, as he later accepted a CBE.
• Phil Scraton, professor of criminology (in 2016) "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'".[116]
• Jon Snow, newscaster (after having declined, investigated and presented a Channel 4 documentary, Secrets of the Honours System.[117])
• Katherine Whitehorn, journalist, later accepted a CBE after retirement from regular journalism.[118]
• Bransby Williams, actor/monologuist (in 1955).
• 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'" (1969). 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'. (Diaries 1968)
• Michael Winner, film director (in 2006; saying, "An OBE is what you get if you clean the toilets well at King's Cross station."[119])
• Susannah York, stage and film actress.
• Benjamin Zephaniah, poet (in 2010), 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."[120]
• John Oliver, comic and TV host/producer (in 2019, saying: "why on earth would I want that?").[121]

• John Allen, political adviser to Prime Minister Harold Wilson, declined honour in 1969.
• Major Derek Allhusen, Olympic equestrian gold medallist, 1969 New Year Honours (accepted CVO in 1984 as Standard Bearer of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms).[45]
• Marcel Aurousseau, Australian geologist, 1956 New Year Honours.[45]
• Rowena Cade, founder of the Minack Theatre, Cornwall (in 1969).
• Patrick Collins, sports journalist and author.[3]
• Joseph Corré, co-founder of Agent Provocateur (in 2007, claiming his belief that then-Prime Minister Tony Blair was "morally corrupt".[122])
• Edward Tegla Davies, Wesleyan Methodist minister and a popular Welsh language writer (in 1963).[45]
• John Dunn, broadcaster.[3]
• Lynn Faulds Wood, TV presenter (in 2016); "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."[123]
• 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.[3]
• David Heckels, declined MBE for charitable services to the arts.[3]
• Bob Holman, community activist in Easterhouse, 2012 birthday honours.[124]
• Gwendoline Laxon, declined MBE for services to charity.[3]
• Susan Loppert, art historian.[3]
• John Lydon, musician (formerly known as "Johnny Rotten").
• George Mpanga, poet and lyricist
• Barry McGuigan, boxer (in 1986; later accepted the honour in 1994)[125]
• John Pandit aka Pandit G, musician, 2002, does not believe in the honours system, says acknowledgement should be given by funding projects.[3][126]
• Doris Purnell, declined MBE for services to drama.[3]
• John Sales, head gardener.[3]
• 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 (in 1957).
• 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."[127]
• Alan Watkins, journalist, political columnist.