Annie Mac's Missing MBE

Irish broadcaster's rejection of royal honour because of Empire connections raises questions about the nature of the UK honours system

May 13, 2024

The JasonWard Creative Substack is for readers like you. I really appreciate your time spent here and invite you to support my work by taking out a subscription. A paid subscription gives you access to exclusive content plus the entire archive of over 100 articles, reviews, interviews, podcasts and playlists all full of creative insight designed to help you develop your creative projects and practise.

The British honours system is a bonkers concept left over from the days of Empire, Royal patronage and the Divine Right of Kings. It recognises achievement in various fields with strange titles like The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle and The Most Noble Order of the Garter. The awarding of ‘gongs’ (as these honours are known in ‘the right circles’) is also a reward for careers in a range of establishment jobs in the Civil Service, the Secret Service or the service of a Prime Minister. Boorish Johnson gave his brother, people who had given him money and a random 30 year old woman honours that make them a part of the legislature for life. Think Nepo-Babies on steroids!

To become a knight or a dame you have to literally kneel before the monarch. Those who are conferred with knighthoods and damehoods receive their honour by kneeling on a cushion in front of the monarch who taps them on the shoulders with a ceremonial sword and then asks them to ‘arise Sir, Lord or Lady Whatever’. Honours are given in the name of the King and the Empire and while it might look lovely in a late 90s romcom, the truth is that in real life the system of patronage is increasingly anachronistic, unsustainable and irrelevant.

For many people nominated for honours, however, it is the link to Empire and colonialism that is the stumbling block, especially for people who are from countries that were part of the British Empire or whose background is stained by it.

In November 2003 the late poet, actor and activist Benjamin Zephaniah received the following letter from the office of Prime Minister Tony Blair:

"The prime minister has asked me to inform you, in strict confidence, that he has in mind, on the occasion of the forthcoming list of New Year's honours to submit your name to the Queen with a recommendation that Her Majesty may be graciously pleased to approve that you be appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire."

Zephaniah was born in Birmingham, England to a Barbadian postman and a Jamaican nurse. He was expelled from school at 13 unable to read or write due to dyslexia. He was told by a teacher that he would either end up dead or serving a life sentence. Zephaniah went on to become a professor of poetry and creative writing and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008. His work has shone a beautifully written light on racial injustice and he has campaigned for the de-establishment of the Monarchy. His response to the invitation to receive a Royal honour is instructive:

“Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word "empire"; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised. It is because of this concept of empire that my British education led me to believe that the history of black people started with slavery and that we were born slaves, and should therefore be grateful that we were given freedom by our caring white masters. It is because of this idea of empire that black people like myself don't even know our true names or our true historical culture. I am not one of those who are obsessed with their roots, and I'm certainly not suffering from a crisis of identity; my obsession is about the future and the political rights of all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE - no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire.”

Just last month DJ and former BBC Radio presenter Annie ‘Mac’ MacManus was appearing on Ireland’s The Late Late Show with Patrick Kielty. She revealed that she had received a similar letter a similar letter in 2022 inviting her to accept an honour from the then Queen.

There is much that says British establishment about MacManus’ life. Although she was born in Dublin and educated privately at Wesley College in the Republic of Ireland, she went on to read English Literature at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland and completed her MA in the UK before working for the BBC, writing books and hosting podcasts.

Annie Mac also became an indelible part of growing up for a whole generation of British music fans. She is credited with discovering and supporting the careers of Sam Smith, Disclosure and Jamie xx as well as countless other artists. Her track record has contributes to the success of British music from both a creative and commercial point of view and deserves recognition.

But despite this background, and just like Benjamin Zephaniah, Ms MacManus turned down the offer of a Royal Honour. During her Late Late Show interview she agreed that it is wonderful to be recognised but admitted that the British Empire connotations were hard to get over.

“It was lovely to be recognised for services to broadcasting, I don’t want to sit here and sound all pompous, it was really nice. But the language of that I had an issue with. It’s quite mad, it’s like something from another century. It’s like. We want to submit your name to be an honorary member of the Excellent Order of the British Empire. It’s 2022 lads, what is this language? And also, I don’t want to be associated with the British Empire, I did history in school, I know about that, and if they change the language I’d be really happy to receive it, but right now, language wise, I just wasn’t happy to (accept it).”

(See 5:30 in below video)

There is no wrong or right answer with accepting honours as MacManus says in her interview. Many creative artists have accepted honours including Sir Matthew Bourne, Dame Zandra Rhodes and Sir Lenny Henry who have all excelled in their disciplines and done much to develop British creativity.

Both Zephaniah and MacManus make a point that has still not been properly addressed in Britain; How Empire has affected peoples at home and around the world. In the case of Ireland the country was perhaps more cruelly and violently treated than any other territory in the Empire culminating with the artificial partition of the island of Ireland in 1922. The question to be asked is; if Ms MacManus is so aware of her history then why is the awards committee so unaware? Do they think that somebody from a country that was previously occupied should accept an honour from the occupier?

It should also be pointed out that there are Irish people who have accepted British honours including BBC radio and TV presenter Terry Wogan who received a knighthood and went on to also have the BBC HQ named after him. Creator of Band Aid / Live Aid Bob Geldof was given a Knighthood (The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), Belfast born Kenneth Branagh accepted a Knightood and all four siblings from pop group The Corrs decided to accept MBEs.

And there are also British creatives who have also turned down honours including David Bowie, The Beatles (at first), Paul Weller and Nigella Lawson. Writer JG Ballard turned down a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) because he said ‘the honours system is a Ruritanian charade that helps to prop up the top-heavy monarchy”

History should teach us that change is constant and the only certainty is uncertainty. In its time the idea of Empire was seen by colonisers as a modern symbol of expressing power. A grateful and savage world was receiving the gift of civilisation. In the words of pop group ABC ‘That was then but this is now’ and it must be time to reassess both the operation and nomenclature of the honours system. This means accepting firstly that the British Empire is over and secondly taking part in an open and honest reckoning of the Empire’s effects. It clearly brought a lot of wealth to Britain but at what cost? Once this discussion has been resolved the country can decide how to recognise those from near and far who have positively contributed to the country.

On a personal level there is still a disconnect between being a creative and being a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Surely part of the creative’s role in society is to question - in fact you could say that questioning is the foundation stone of creativity whereas, an Imperial honours system is about preserving a status quo. Once you are honoured, you are digested into the Establishment, you become part of a system that recognises Empire as positive and places great value on recognition due to an accident of birth rather than earned through talent, ability and hard work. This is surely the antithesis of achievement creative or otherwise.

The incredible actor Jim Broadbent put it so well when he turned down an OBE:

“I like the idea of actors not being part of the Establishment. We’re vagabonds and rogues, and we’re not a part of the authorities and Establishment, really. If you mix the two together, things get blurry."

Jim Broadbent “we’re vagabonds and rogues”

Click here to find out more about how the UK Honours System works

UK HONOUR SYSTEM

The Culture Stack

Discussion about this post