Has the Queen ever given an award to an American or knighted him?

Question

Has the Queen, for any reason given an American an award, medal and is it possible to be knighted? Just wondering no need to make rude comments. Thanks,

Answer 1

I second all the above. I'd like to point out that although foreigners can be given honorary knighthoods and of course gallantry awards, no foreign citizen can be given a peerage (i.e. made a Lord), because until just a very few years ago all Lords were members of the upper house of Parliament. Obviously you couldn't give a foreigner a role in government.

Answer 2

Yes. Several Americans have been knighted for political reasons

Answer 3

Ronald Reagan was knighted if I'm not mistaken. But it's more of a courtesy award if you are not British because you don't/ can't use the title.

Answer 4

George H W Bush, Rudy Giuliani, General Norman Schwarkopf ("Stormin' Norman") and Bill Gates have all been given honorary knighthoods. They have the right to put the letters KBE after their name but cannot use the title "Sir",this is restricted to British and some Comonwealth Citizens.

Answer 5

I think American Post-Revolutionary Statute Law probably has some fairly specific and rather salty things to say about any of it's citizens being Knighted by Foreign Rulers. They were rather concerned that their people be lured into a counter-Revolution, so the Foreign Rulers they were thinking about in the early days were probably British.

A Knighthood is bestowed as an honour, and to foreigners making a contribution to the United Kingdom. You can't even use the name unless you are a British Citizen, so foreigners getting an honourary Knighthood, are getting international recognition, and an an Honourary Honour.

Had they been British Citizens, the following would probably have been made Peers of the Realm.

General Sir H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jnr. ("Everyone I know already calls me Sir.")

Sir Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Sir William Gates

Sir Rudolf Giuliani

Sir William Graham

Sir Alan Greenspan

Sir John Edgar Hoover

Sir Robert Hope (British by birth, but American by choice)

Sir Henry Kissinger

Sir Andre Previn

Sir Steven Spielberg

Answer 6

Yes,honorary knighthoods and medals for valour.

Answer 7

Her Majesty does not knight foreign holders of honorary knighthoods.  She bestows the honour in person to British subjects only.  Normally an honorary knighthood is presented by the Foreign Secretary of State on behalf of Her Brititannic Majesty.

If my memory serves me correctly, I think, that The Queen, made an exception to the rule of protocul to Bob Geldoff (a citizen of the Republic of Ireland)  in recognition of his extraordinary achievment in raising money for  the charity Band Aid.

Foreign honorary knights are not allowed to be titled "Sir".

Answer 8

I think Bill Gates got an honourary knighthood

Answer 9

Yes.Rudy Giuliani,Bill Gates are two that come to mind.But Americans and other foreigners can not use the title of "Sir" since the knighthood is honorary.

From http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4877....

"Foreign citizens occasionally receive honorary knighthoods; they are not dubbed, and they do not use the style 'Sir'.

Such knighthoods are conferred by The Queen, on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on those who have made an important contribution to relations between their country and Britain.

Foreign citizens given knighthoods over the years include Chancellor Kohl, President Mitterrand and Mayor Giuliani of New York."

Answer 10

You have to be a Btitish citizen to receive a knighthood in other words born of a naturalised resident of any of the 50 commonwealth countries....you can however be given an honorary knighthood,for example Bob Geldolf was given an honorary knighthood for his work but as he was an Irish national he couldn`t be given the full tittle,and can`t call himself "Sir Bob",just Bob

So an American could receive an honorary knighthood but would still be plain "Mr"