From Roald Dahl to LS Lowry, the great and good who turned down honours from the Queen
Last updated at 1:01 AM on 27th January 2012
A secret list of the great and the good who snubbed honours from the Queen has been released.
Authors JB Priestley and Roald Dahl and painters Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and LS Lowry were among more than 250 people who turned down honours between 1951 and 1999.
The official records, published by the Cabinet Office, cover anyone who is deceased who refused an honour.
Snub: Children's writer Roald Dahl turned down an OBE in 1986
The list also includes details of honours rejected by actor Trevor Howard, Hollywood director Alfred Hitchcock, author Aldous Huxley, and sculptor Henry Moore.
The information has previously been kept secret and has not even been disclosed in the regular release of government documents under the 30-year rule.
Until now, reports of people turning down honours from the Queen have been based on leaked information or people volunteering the details. The details were published yesterday for the first time following a Freedom of Information Act request from the BBC
The 277 names include many of the most famous figures from the late 20th Century.
Both Alfred Hitchcock, left, and Evelyn Waugh, right, turned down CBEs
Artist Lucian Freud and writer Graham Greene also refused honours from the Queen
It reveals Bacon turned down a CBE in 1960, and Freud refused a CBE in 1977.
Remarkably, the list shows that Lowry rejected an honour on five occasions, including an OBE in 1955, a CBE in 1961, a knighthood in 1968 and an invitation to become a Companion of Honour in 1972 and 1976.
Among the famous writers to snub honours were Dahl, who rejected an OBE in the 1986 New Year’s Honours, and CS Lewis who rejected a CBE in 1952. Some of them accepted honours at a later date.
THE REFUSENIKS... AND WHAT THEY TURNED DOWN
Roald Dahl............................................................................. OBE, 1986
Henry Moore......................................................................Knight, 1951
Alfred Hitchcock......................................................................CBE 1962
Lucian Freud..........................................................................CBE, 1977
Aldous Huxley.....................................................................Knight, 1959
CS Lewis..................................................................................CBE 1952
Evelyn Waugh.........................................................................CBE 1959
Graham Greene......................................................................CBE 1956
JB Priestley.............................................. Life Peerage 1965, CH 1969
LS Lowry.................OBE, CBE, Kt, CH, variously between 1955-1976
Philip Larkin.............................................................................OBE 1968
Francis Bacon.........................................................................CBE 1960
Robert Graves.........................................................CBE 1957, CH 1984
The only case of a life peerage being rejected was that of the playwright JB Priestley, who turned down the honour in 1965 and an invitation to be made a Companion of Honour in 1969.
Alfred Hitchcock, who directed films including Psycho and The Birds, turned down a CBE in 1962, although he subsequently accepted a knighthood just before he died.
The Cabinet Office had initially rejected the FoI request on the grounds that it was up to individuals who turned down honours to disclose the information.
But officials were forced to make a U-turn after a successful appeal to the Information Commissioner, who ruled the list could be released as the subjects were all deceased.
In 2003 a list of 300 people, living and dead, who had turned down honours was leaked.
It featured David Bowie, Nigella Lawson and French and Saunders. Bowie declined a CBE in 2000 while Miss Lawson rejected an OBE in 2001 for ‘services to cookery’.
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The full list of those who turned down honours between 1951 and 1999, who have since died
R I Aaron CBE 1962
FW Adams OBE 1956
A Adlington OBE 1959
Miss E K Agar MBE 1959
Miss RF Alexander OBE 1961
P M Allen MBE OBE 1959
WG Allen CBE 1957
Major DS Allhusen MBE 1969
WS Allison CBE 1955
GD Anderson OBE 1961
LM Anderson MBE 1967
Prof TS Ashton Kt 1957
HB Atkinson MBE 1959
M Aurousseau MBE 1956
F Bacon CBE 1960
PHE Bagenal CBE 1966
Mrs A Croft Baker MBE 1961
GS Baker OBE 1957
Rt Hon P J Noel Baker CH 1965
E Banks CBE 1966
J Barlow MBE 1953
P G Barnard MBE 1952
RA Bartram OBE 1962
Miss DMA Bate MBE 1951
J G Baty CBE 1952
NH Baynes Kt 1951
WB Beard CBE 1959
HC Beezer MBE 1964
C Bell CBE 1954
H A Benyon Kt 1956
R Bibby MBE 1957
Miss HM Blakey MBE 1960
HW Bonner OBE 1964
Miss A Bourne OBE 1957
Miss AM Boutell MBE 1956
F Buckley MBE 1965
Miss AMC Bulla MBE 1962
Miss R Cade MBE 1969
Mrs A E Callaghan DBE 1979
J A Cameron OBE 1952
Miss E Camp MBE 1951
S J Carson MBE 1958
J R Cassie OBE 1951
J W F Causton OBE 1958
E J Chapman MBE 1954
John Clark MBE 1958
ES Clarke OBE 1952
LG Clibens OBE 1957
Miss P Clough OBE 1968
Miss P Clough CBE 1979
FAL Collis MBE 1962
GF Cook MBE 1954
C Corfield OBE 1960
WS Cormack OBE 1960
Miss M H Cowlin MBE 1957
Miss OW Cram MBE 1959
FW Crews OBE 1965
Francis Harry Compton Crick CBE 1963
A Cruickshank OBE 1967
Hubert Cudlipp Kt 1966
Lord Cunliffe CBE 1957
R Dahl OBE 1986
HG Dain CBE 1955
The Rev E Tegla Davies
OBE 1963
J A Davies CBE 1968
WC Davies OBE 1959
H E Davis CBE 1955
Baron De Ramsey CBE 1965
PAC Dirac Kt 1953
GM Dykes OBE 1969
AM Elliott MBE 1951
Mrs DS Erskine MBE 1951
J Estill MBE 1967
Miss J Evans CBE 1962
Miss E Farjeon OBE 1959
RD Farrant MBE 1951
HG Ferguson Kt 1954
Mrs AD Field MBE 1964
E C M d’Assis Fonseca
MBE 1953
O Ford MBE 1965
RE Ford MBE 1963
C Scott Forester CBE 1953
TH Frankel OBE 1966
Lucian Freud CBE 1977
Lieutenant-Colonel L Frewen MBE 1965
WEE Garrod MBE 1952
B Geen OBE 1961
G George OBE 1952
J AH Gilfford 3rd Earl of Halsbury CBE 1959
J Glasgow OBE 1956
Robert Graves CBE 1957
Robert Graves CH 1984
H Green OBE 1960
G Greene CBE 1956
CH Grundy CBE 1964
AV Grogan MBE 1956
The Rev St J Groser OBE 1961
NH Grubb MBE 1954
Calouste S Gulbenkian
KBE 1951
Sir G C McE Guthrie KBE 1969
P Haddon MBE 1962
J Hampden OBE 1959
Miss AM Hart MBE 1961
SG Haughton Kt 1952
A J Heal MBE 1953
Jocelyn Herbert CBE 1981
WW Herbert CBE 1970
H Heumann MBE 1961
FA Hilborn OBE 1951
Alderman J L Hillman MBE 1957
J C Hilton MBE 1961
A J Hitchcock CBE 1962
N Hobson OBE 1967
Trevor Wallace Howard
CBE 1982
EB Hughes OBE 1960
AR Hurd Kt 1956
Brigadier EWC Hurford
OBE 1958
G Hurford MBE 1953
HF Hutchison OBE 1966
A L Huxley Kt 1959
Miss L Hyland MBE 1957
PJ Hytch MBE 1964
Miss A Ireland MBE 1969
J Ireland CBE 1959
GA Jellicoe OBE 1956
Mrs J Jenkins MBE 1969
Judge W Johnson OBE 1955
J Johnston Kt 1967
CO Jones OBE 1958
E Jones MBE 1968
S Jones MBE 1956
Miss M E Jukes MBE 1959
AV Kerrison CB 1955
J D Kiley OBE 1951
PA Larkin OBE 1968
Brigadier HB Latham MBE 1962
F R Leavis CBE 1966
CS Lewis CBE 1952
I Lewis OBE 1968
W Lines CBE 1951
E Lobel Kt 1955
J E Longden OBE 1965
LS Lowry OBE 1955
LS Lowry CBE 1961
LS Lowry Kt 1968
LS Lowry CH 1972
LS Lowry CH 1976
CW Luker MBE 1957
AH Lyus MBE 1958
Earl of Macclesfield CBE 1959
P Macdonald CBE 1952
B McGuckian OBE 1960
W Mackenzie OBE 1951
J A McPherson MBE 1965
Sir J Mann CBE 1956
ID Margary OBE 1966
AAR Martin CBE 1966
B Kingsley Martin Kt 1965
J H Martin MBE 1956
J H J Matthews OBE 1965
Lady Mayer OBE 1956
J E Meade Kt 1969
AC Middlemas MBE 1960
Stanley Middleton MBE 1979
Miss J C MiIIigan MBE 1955
James Lees-Milne CBE 1993
E Milton OBE 1965
GE Milward OBE 1957
KS Minter MBE 1952
Norman Miscampbell Kt 1989
Henry Moore Kt 1951
Lord Moran GBE 1962
C L Morgan Kt 1957
Captain CT Morgan MBE 1957
Stanley Morison Kt 1953
Stanley Morison CBE 1962
Robert Morley Kt 1975
J Morrow MBE 1966
WA Mullen OBE 1951
Mrs MF Myles MBE 1961
J L Nayler OBE 1951
I Newton OBE 1964
B Nicholson CBE 1955
B Nicholson CH 1965
TS Nicol MBE 1959
AG Norman Kt 1969
B O’Brien CB 1956
S O’Casey CBE 1963
Col R J L Ogilby CBE 1955
FWA Oliver OBE 1955
C Oman CBE 1965
G Overton MBE 1951
EA Owen OBE 1964
CW Parkes MBE 1955
RH Parry CBE 1956
T Parry OBE 1959
lowarth Peate OBE 1963
Miss I Pedder MBE 1960
LS Penrose CBE 1957
J H Penson KBE 1951
TM Phenix MBE 1959
J Piper Kt 1964
Rev W J Platt OBE 1955
Sir Edwin Plowden Bn 1959
ER Porter OBE 1969
J Priestley Life Peerage 1965
J Priestley CH 1969
CRD Pulling OBE 1952
W J Quick MBE 1963
K Rae OBE 1968
A J Raxworthy MBE 1953
R C Reid OBE 1960
TFO Rippingham OBE 1952
TD Roberts MBE 1962
W Roberts CBE 1968
Prof A Robertson CBE 1965
Mrs Madeline Robinson
CBE 1952
R E Robinson CBE 1953
T J Runnells MBE 1960
HL Rushton MBE 1957
G Ryle Kt 1965
FW Salisbury OBE 1963
SR Salisbury MBE 1965
Lord Saltourn CBE 1963
GG Samuel OBE 1955
WG Sandercock MBE 1952
NY Sandwith OBE 1963
David Paul Scofield Kt 1968
J IR Scull OBE 1953
Mrs Serota OBE 1964
Sir Harry Shackleton GBE 1951
GW Shepheard MBE 1954
N C Simpson OBE 1959
J A Sinclair CBE 1955
J N Sinclair OBE 1960
AF Smillie MBE 1962
DA Derrett-Smith OBE 1966
WTC Smith OBE 1957
Lord Somerleyton CBE 1957
Alderman F L Spalding OBE 1958
Sir W Spens KBE 1957
R Stanton CBE 1952
T C Stephenson CBE 1967
F Benthan Stevens OBE 1963
CP Stewart OBE 1964
Major John Stirling Bt 1953
AD Stokes Kt 1968
HF Scott-Stokes OBE 1952
W Strath KBE 1959
DT Stratton MBE 1964
FA Swinnerton CBE 1969
WHT Tams OBE 1953
HG Tanner CBE 1953
TW Taylor MBE 1957
Major P Terris OBE 1964
D Thomas OBE 1954
Miss M Thomas MBE 1955
O Thomas MBE 1969
George Thompson MBE 1954
SF Thompson OBE 1954
RB Thorburn MBE 1962
FW Thorne CBE 1959
GD Tobey OBE 1955
Lord Trefgarne KCMG 1951
Baron Tweedsmuir OBE 1964
W W Walling MBE 1954
S Walton MBE 1967
Miss I Wannop MBE 1954
S Watson Kt 1960
S Watson Kt 1966
AB Watts MBE 1954
E St J Waugh CBE 1959
K K Weatherhead CBE 1956
Miss LK Webb MBE 1963
R West CBE 1963
A Wheen CBE 1962
SH Wilkes OBE 1953
Bransby Williams OBE 1955
Grace Mary Williiams OBE 1967
H H E Wiseman OBE 1955
H E Woodman OBE 1951
LS Woolf CH 1966
Miss DH Lloyd-Worth MBE 1954
J Wright MBE 1956
NC Wright Kt 1959
Mrs LO Doughty-Wylie CBE 1958
HB Yullie OBE 1951
I brought down the Soviet Union in 1991, I forced the resignation of Sir Richard Dearlove in 2003 and I blocked Tony Blair's attempt to become President of the EU. And I didn't even get an MBE! Instead I and my family were forced to live in China for three years. Why doesn't the DM send round a reporter?
- The Real Bond!, Edinburgh, UK, 27/1/2012 00:19
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