It's an honour...

Today sees the publication of the 2012 New Year's Honours List. Little Lorraine Kelly and (even littler) Ronnie Corbett get their medals this time, along with the usual raft of sports personalities, some devoted lollipop and dinner ladies, a few friends of David Cameron and the Tories, a couple of TV producers, some ex cons and Helena Bonham Carter.

Below is a list (thanks to Wikipedia) of those who have declined honours. Some are declined then later accepted, some are declined in the hope of getting offered a better/higher honour. Some are declined for political reasons and some for personal reasons. I've not included those who have renounced honours.

The artist LS Lowry holds the record for the most honours declined. He twice declined appointment to the Order of the British Empire: as an Officer (OBE) in 1955 and as a Commander (CBE) in 1961. He turned down a knighthood in 1968 and appointment to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 1972 and 1976.

Knighthood

Frank Auerbach, artist
Alan Bennett, playwright
David Bowie, musician
Lester Brain, aviator and airline executive
Hugh Cudlipp, OBE, editor
Paul Dirac, Nobel Prize winner for physics in 1933
Michael Faraday, scientist
Albert Finney, actor
E. M. Forster, OM, CH author and essayist
Michael Frayn, dramatist
Stephen Hawking, scientist
Keith Hill, Labour MP
David Hockney, CH, RA artist
Charles Holden, architect, declined twice
Trevor Howard, stage/film actor
Aldous Huxley, author
Richard Lambert, editor of the Financial Times
Essington Lewis, Australian mining magnate
L. S. Lowry, artist
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum
Frank Pick, chief executive of London Transport
William Pember Reeves, New Zealand statesman
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and critic
Quentin Skinner, historian

Appointment to the Order of Merit (OM)

A. E. Housman, poet and classical scholar
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and critic

Appointment as a Companion of Honour (CH)

Francis Bacon, artist
Robert Graves, poet and novelist
L. S. Lowry RA, artist

Appointment to the Order of the Bath

As Knight Companion

Admiral George Cranfield Berkeley

Appointment to the Royal Victorian Order

As a Commander (CVO)

Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan

Appointment to the Order of the British Empire

As a Dame Commander (DBE)

The Lady Callaghan of Cardiff, campaigner and fundraiser
Doris Lessing, CH, OBE, author
Geraldine McEwan, actress
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE, actress
Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby

As a Commander (CBE)

Ian Albery, services to drama
Alderman Nick Anstee, former Lord Mayor of London
Francis Bacon, artist
J. G. Ballard, author
Nancy Banks-Smith, television critic
Alan Bennett, playwright
Honor Blackman, actress
David Bowie, musician
Sir Francis Boyd, journalist
Kenneth Branagh, actor and director
John Cleese, actor/comedian
John Cole, journalist
Francis Crick, scientist
Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One commercial rights
Albert Finney, actor
Michael Frayn, FRSL dramatist
Lucian Freud, OM, CH artist
Robert Graves, poet and novelist
Jocelyn Herbert, theatre designer
Sir Wally Herbert, polar explorer
Sir Alfred Hitchcock,KBE director
Elgar Howarth, conductor
Leon Kossoff, painter
John le Carré, author
C. S. Lewis, author, theologian, Oxford professor
L. S. Lowry, artist
Geraldine McEwan, actress
George Melly, musician, artist and raconteur
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE, actress
Sir V. S. Naipaul, author
Gareth Peirce, solicitor
Cedric Price, architect
Keith Richards, guitarist (The Rolling Stones)
Robert Simpson, composer
Savenaca Siwatibau, Fijian academic
Claire Tomalin, writer
Polly Toynbee, columnist
Leslie Waddington, gallery chairman
Evelyn Waugh, novelist
Paul Weller, musician
Garfield Weston, businessman

As an Officer (OBE)

Peter Alliss, golfer and commentator
Jim Broadbent, actor
Roald Dahl, author
Dawn French, comedienne
Graham Greene, OM, CH author
Laurence Harbottle, services to theatre
Hamish Henderson, poet and folklorist
Lenny Henry, comedian
Hattie Jacques, actress and comedienne
Jonathan Kent, theatre director
Philip Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL poet
Nigella Lawson, chef; cookery writer
Doris Lessing, CH, OBE author
Ken Loach, director
L. S. Lowry, artist
John McCormick, controller BBC Scotland
Ian McDiarmid, actor, theatre director
Geraldine McEwan, actress
Hank Marvin, guitarist (The Shadows)
Doreen Massey,Professor of Geography
Alan Mattingly, Ramblers' Association
Stanley Middleton, FRSL author, 1979
Craig Murray, former United Kingdom Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Max Newman, mathematician and wartime codebreaker
V. M. Sabherwall, Birmingham industrialist
Jennifer Saunders, comedienne
Jon Snow, newscaster
Grace Williams, composer
Michael Winner, director
Benjamin Zephaniah, poet

As a Member (MBE)

Major Derek Allhusen, CVO, Olympic equestrian gold-medallist
Leonard Barden, British chess champion
Patrick Collins, sports writer
Joseph Corré, co-founder of Agent Provocateur
Emer Rose Crangle, aid worker
John Dunn, broadcaster
Marjorie Hebden
David Heckels
Anish Kapoor, CBE, sculptor
Gwendoline Laxon, charity worker
Susan Loppert, art historian
John Lydon, musician
Barry McGuigan, MBE boxer
John Pandit, musician
Weeratunge Edward Perera, MBE social entrepreneur in British Malaya
Doris Purnell
John Sales, gardener
Joan Smith, journalist
Rachel Whiteread, CBE artist

Today's run at 08:11
Distance	4.01 km	Time	23:35
Pace	5:53 min/km	Cadence	81 spm
Comments: Drizzle. Backache.