14 celebrities made a knight or dame by Queen Elizabeth and other British royals, from Lewis Hamilton and Angelina Jolie, to Anna Wintour and even billionaire Bill Gates
- The queen, Prince Charles and Prince William have given the honours at Buckingham Palace, including to non-Britons like Jolie and Microsoft founder Bill Gates
- Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Liz Taylor and Julie Andrews became dames, while Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Michael Caine became sirs
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth can honour people who’ve achieved something extraordinary with a knighthood. For men this means gaining the title “Sir”, while women become a “Dame”.
Meet 14 celebrities who received the honour over the years …
1. Judi Dench became a dame in 1988
In 1970, Dench was awarded Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), an award given to civilians whose work affected the nation. Almost two decades later, Dench was named a dame and in 2005 was given an Order of the Companion of Honour, which is given to civilians who’ve contributed to arts, science or medicine.
2. Long before she was Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, Maggie Smith became a dame in 1989
Queen Elizabeth gave Smith the title at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
“It doesn’t change anything at all, except people end up calling me Dame Maggie, and I don’t suppose that’ll happen much,” the actress told The New York Times in 1990.
In 2014, the queen made Smith one of the Companions of Honour.