To be knighted in the United Kingdom, someone has to be nominated, assessed by an independent committee, vetted by government departments, quietly offered the honour, and then dubbed by the King or a senior member of the Royal Family at an investiture. Anyone can start that process by nominating a candidate, and the full journey from nomination to ceremony usually takes twelve to eighteen months. If you are wondering how to be knighted, or how to get someone else knighted, the mechanics below are the same route every modern recipient travels.
Who Qualifies for a Knighthood
A substantive knighthood, the kind that carries the title “Sir” or “Dame,” is open to citizens of the United Kingdom and to citizens of the fifteen Commonwealth realms where the British monarch is head of state.1The Royal Family. Commonwealth Honours The nominee does not need to be famous, wealthy, or senior in their profession. The Gazette, the UK’s official public record, states that the system exists to ensure “people who aren’t in the public eye are recognised for service and contribution to their respective fields.”2The Gazette. Everything You Need to Know About Nominating Someone for a UK Honour
Foreign nationals from outside the Commonwealth realms can receive an honorary knighthood for work that strengthens their country’s relationship with the UK. Honorary recipients are placed in the same Orders and use the post-nominal letters, but they cannot use “Sir” or “Dame” socially.3The Royal Family. Knighthoods and Damehoods Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, and Angelina Jolie hold honorary appointments on that basis.4The Gazette. American Citizens with Honorary British Knighthoods
How the Nomination Works
Any member of the public can submit a nomination. You do not need to hold any position, and you do not need to know the candidate personally, though a stronger case will usually come from someone who does. The nomination form is available through the government’s online honours service and can also be sent by email or post.5UK Honours System. a href=”https://honours.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/how-to-nominate/nomination-guidance/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Nomination Guidance
You will be asked for the nominee’s full name, age, address, contact details, gender, ethnicity, and nationality.6GOV.UK. What You Need to Nominate The core of the submission is a written case, capped at 3,000 characters, that explains why the person deserves recognition. It should focus on real-world impact rather than job titles.7GOV.UK. Honours Process Guidance The useful question to answer is: what changed because of this person?
Every nomination also needs at least two supporting letters from people who can speak first-hand about the nominee’s work. There is no cap on how many letters you can attach, but the Cabinet Office rejects duplicative ones that just repeat the same points, and the nominator cannot also write a supporting letter.8UK Honours System. Nomination Guidance You can strengthen a case with news clippings, published research, or documentation of charitable outcomes.6GOV.UK. What You Need to Nominate
How Nominations Are Assessed
Honours appear on two lists each year: the New Year Honours List and the King’s Birthday Honours List. Nominations for the New Year list should ideally arrive by 31 March, and for the Birthday list by 31 August.9nidirect. Honours There is no hard deadline, but assessment runs at least twelve to eighteen months, so an April submission is unlikely to appear before the following year’s Birthday list.8UK Honours System. Nomination Guidance
Each nomination goes to one of ten independent honours committees, each covering a sector such as health, education, sport, or science. The committees are majority-independent, sitting alongside senior civil servants,10GOV.UK. Honours Committees and they meet twice a year. Their recommendations go to the Main Honours Committee, which agrees a final list for the Prime Minister and then the King.11UK Honours System. Governance
Before a name reaches that final list, it is vetted. HMRC reviews the nominee’s tax affairs and rates the risk as low, medium, or high, in proportion to the level of the honour and the person’s public profile.12GOV.UK. Honours Nominations Probity and Propriety Checks Completed by HMRC Other departments may also run checks to make sure the honour would not attract public criticism.
What Happens If the Nominee Is Chosen
Nobody appears on a public honours list without first being asked. The nominee receives a confidential letter or email inviting them to accept, and they are asked to keep the offer private until the list is published. A candidate can decline without giving any reason, and nothing about the offer is ever made public if they do. David Bowie, Stephen Hawking, and Roald Dahl are among the public figures who acknowledged turning honours down.13House of Commons Library. Honours: Refusal and Removal
The Investiture Ceremony
Those who accept are invited to an investiture, usually at Buckingham Palace, hosted by a member of the Royal Family.14The Royal Family. Investitures Recipients are called forward individually. Anyone receiving a knighthood kneels on an investiture stool and is dubbed with a sword, the same gesture inherited from the medieval accolade; each senior royal uses their own personal sword.15The Royal Family. Behind the Scenes: Investitures The insignia of the relevant order is then hooked onto a pin worn on the recipient’s clothing, and the presiding royal has a brief personal conversation with each honoured person before they step away.
The Title You Receive
A man with a substantive knighthood uses “Sir” before his first name, and a woman at the equivalent grade uses “Dame.” The title always attaches to the first name, so Sir David Attenborough is Sir David, never Sir Attenborough. Post-nominal letters showing the specific order and grade follow the full name, so a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire is styled Sir John Smith KBE.
The wife of a knight is granted the courtesy title “Lady” with her husband’s surname. The husband of a Dame receives no equivalent title. Honorary recipients use the post-nominals but not “Sir” or “Dame,” because those styles are reserved for substantive members of the Orders.3The Royal Family. Knighthoods and Damehoods
Types of Knighthood That Exist
Knighthoods are not a single award. The simplest form is the Knight Bachelor, a standalone appointment that grants “Sir” without placing the recipient in any order. It applies to men only and has no direct female equivalent.16UK Honours System. Orders, Decorations and Medals Women receive the equivalent recognition through one of the organised Orders of Chivalry, most commonly as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).
Within an order, only the top two grades carry the title:
- Order of the British Empire: Knight or Dame Commander (KBE/DBE) and Knight or Dame Grand Cross (GBE).
- Royal Victorian Order: Knight or Dame Commander (KCVO/DCVO) and Knight or Dame Grand Cross (GCVO).
Lower grades in the same orders, such as Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE), and Member (MBE), are real honours but do not confer “Sir” or “Dame.” Some well-known figures hold both a Knight Bachelor appointment and a lower-grade order membership; their “Sir” comes from the Knight Bachelor status, not from the order.16UK Honours System. Orders, Decorations and Medals
Losing a Knighthood
A knighthood can be taken away. The Honours Forfeiture Committee reviews cases where a recipient’s conduct has brought the system into disrepute, whether that conduct came before or after the honour was granted. The committee automatically considers a case when the recipient:
- Receives a prison sentence of more than three months for any criminal offence.
- Is struck off by a professional regulatory body for misconduct directly relevant to the honour.
- Is convicted of a sexual offence under the relevant UK legislation.
The committee is not confined to those triggers and can review any situation that would damage public confidence in the honours system. It does not investigate facts itself; it relies on the findings of courts, regulators, and official inquiries, and personal grievances are explicitly noted as insufficient grounds. A recommended forfeiture goes to the Prime Minister, then to the King, and is published in The London Gazette. Fred Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood in 2012 after the near-collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Anthony Blunt lost his in 1979 after his role as a Soviet agent was publicly confirmed. Honorary knighthoods can also be annulled, as with Robert Mugabe’s in 2008.17UK Honours System. Forfeiture Forfeiture applies only to living individuals, since honours fall away automatically on death.
A Note for American Nominees
A private American citizen can accept an honorary knighthood without difficulty. The complication is for anyone holding a federal office. Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution provides that “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust” under the United States may accept “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” without the consent of Congress.18Congress.gov. Article 1 Section 9 Clause 8 In practice, sitting officeholders who receive honorary knighthoods do so with congressional awareness, and the honour is typically conferred before or after time in office. Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush all received honorary appointments as Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.4The Gazette. American Citizens with Honorary British Knighthoods