Knighthoods, and some other honours being devalued

Where's mine? Nearly 70 years of cooking, cleaning, ironing, washing and bringing up children. Oh well, there's always next year.

How about all the surgeons and doctors who perform miracles and save lives. They're my heros

Then you don't know athletes

A lollipop lady isn't doing the job to say 'look at me' and therefore deserves it.
Entertainers & athlete's say just that 'Look at me, aren't I great'. They are not selfless.

We were at a local street fair last summer; lots of jolly entertainment for the children, and little granddaughter won a prize. The stall holder said 'Right - what would you like? A teddy, or a knighthood?'

Highly amusing but also, sadly, indicating the current opinion of this 'gong'.

I know someone who is a retired civil servant who was given the Order of the Bath. They said it's sort of routine, if you had been at a high level in the CS for a long time.

The majority chose their occupations , so the lady who received an honour for being a lollipop pop lady for many years and was in paid occupation didn't deserve it?

Anniebach
I consider the armed forces and medicine a completely different kettle of fish to entertainment.
They are positive jobs, not 'fun' jobs.
Athletes and entertainers tend to choose that profession because they want to, which usualy involves self gain. Service men/women and doctors do the job to protect/assist others.. it's simply not the same at all. They are opposite extremes of this scale.

I am, as always, amazed at the hate women have for Victoria Beckham. And since most seem uncharacteristically silent on the matter, I will state now that I am 100 times happier that Victoria got her honour than I am that Justine Roberts got one - for 'services to the economy'

Camilla Long, writing in the Sunday Times, sums up the Beckham farce beautifully.

I think they are totally devalued and should only be given for outstanding work in the community.
Athletes, actors etc are well paid, (overpaid), and are unneccessarily fawned on.
As for Murray - no matter what his physical achievements he is an unpleasant foul-mouthed character with a foul-mouthed mother and a foul-mouthed wife. I don't admire him at all though I am a huge tennis fan and do concede that he can play tennis.

Yes I agree they are being devalued by the celebrities they give them too. When was the last time Victoria B even visited this country,she chooses to live in America. The clip that was shown on TV when announcing her award was of her fashion show. Everyone was waiting for her to appear as the designer. She appeared at the entrance to the catwalk, gave one of her smirks and walked away. She showed herself for 2 seconds and all those people applauding and waiting to see her. That warrants an award? Well the establishment made Jimmy Saville a sir which gave him more power to abuse so that says it all really.

floorflock, no mrmber if the armed forces should receive an award because it's their job for which they are paid? No one in the field of medicine if they are in employment?

Over two thirds were awarded to people only known in their own community

I think we only hear about the famous who get honours. I am sure if the whole list was looked at we would find some really interesting people.

I agree with Vampirequeen. These people choose to take up and continue with (for example) sport or acting. Why should they benefit even further by getting an obselete honour from The Empire. What Empire? We are a very small nation in the grand scheme of things. These honoured people are revered anyway (by others, not me) and have enough recognition and also financial recompense.
It all needs to be discontinued.
Awards or honours should remain for those who are really deserving not just for doing the job you choose to do.

Great! We're now going to get inundated with more Tofu TV ads courtesy of Sur Mo Farah

Back in the 70s I worked for a Nobel Prize Winner in the medical research field who went on to receive a well deserved Knighthood.

I also worked for a Dame .... Who received her title for her devoted and ground breaking work in consumer protection etc.

Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall, Phillip Green. All other more recent recipients of 'Honours'.
Hmmmm

Not forgetting Mick Jagger. Still love the Stones music but a knighthood for Mick.
A totally anti establishment figure back in the day! Crazy.

It's the New Year. I must stop ranting. I can feel my blood pressure rising .....

arrggghhh .....there not their

The honours system was invented to help early monarchs to keep control of their nobles. A gift here and an honour their kept their friends close and themselves in power. It was nothing to do with the people. Time to do away with it.

I went to an investiture one year. The only person who truly deserved an award was a young soldier who had performed acts of extreme bravery and saved many lives. The first person to be honoured was a top diplomat who was getting his knighthood which seems to be part of the promotion system for top civil servants. He hadn't done anything over and above his job for which he was very, very well paid. Guess who was the last person in the queue to be honoured.

I don't watch soaps, who has been given an honour from these?

Yet athletes who are a good example to the young are being criticised here. I watched Colin Jackson train, seems some have no idea how these athletes work from a young age .

We have these honours so why not award younger people, not as someone posted, it should be when they are older and done charity work !

'Services to acting' should mean things like supporting a Theatre, writing books or teaching, getting involved in acting therapy as well as acting as a job. It is well paid, well regarded and awards are given in their dozens (Helen Mirren said that after The Queen she spent two years doing the rounds of premieres and award ceremonies). They don't need an award from the government or Queen as well. Nowadays they are given because people have been in a soap opera for 20 years playing one part.

I do think Andy deserves his, because he's achieved so many career goalposts that have not been reached in 50/70/100 years and, being brutally honest, he only has another year or two at the top, so does it really matter whether they give it to him this yeae or in 3-4 years when he'll be well past his best. The one I don't think does deserve it is Posh - a failed singer, a WAG who appears to have got hers for being a stick insect - "Services to fashion?" - my MIL tells me that she's done charity work, but when I looked up her fashion empire, discovered (OK, may have sorted out the issue since) that she'd failed to file her accounts and in any case who would be seen dead in her clothes?

Playing devil's advocate.
What do you think of Justine's?

All the time we have these awards we support injustice. The fawning over actors / sportsmen etc is ridiculous, they do jobs they enjoy for excellent money and perks. We already elevate these people beyond their worth and many have sleazy lifestyles alongside their other achievements.......

Time to rescind all the honours and reduce the money paid out to celebs and sportsmen.........we have to get a grip on true worth and as we patently cannot decide what that is we have to let go of awards.

Beckham getting any award, is a slap in the face for women everywhere.............they are parents who exploit themselves and their kids for every penny they can get.......ghastly behaviour that encourages others to think that kids should behave like mini adults. We need a push back against the people who make us miserable with their 'messages' to the rest of us.

Banksy says some fine stuff on advertising but not sure if I am allowed to post it here, worth looking for it on Google.