Receiving an honour from the Queen is seen by many as the peak of their lives - but others don't want anything to do with it.
NHS heroes, sports stars and community champions have been awarded gongs in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours.
Most famous faces dream of the day they will get to bow or cursty in front of a royal while having their oustanding achievements recognised.
However, a number of celebrities have actually declined the opportunity when presented with it or even handed their accolade back.
From not feeling worthy enough to feeling offended by what they were offered, there are a wide range of reasons why people have turned them down over the years.
Here is a look at the stars who said 'no thank you' to receiving an honour.
David Bowie
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The late great David Bowie actually turned down two honours.
He refused to accept a CBE in 2000 and three years later turned down a knighthood.
He said: “I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don’t know what it’s for. It’s not what I spent my life working for.”
Bowie didn't join the the list of musical knights including Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.
When asked about fellow rocker Jagger accepting the honour, he said: “It’s not my place to make a judgment on Jagger, it’s his decision. But it’s just not for me.”
But he declined to discuss whether or not he was anti-monarchy, as he was living in the US at the time, where he sadly died in 2016.
John Lennon
The Beatles legend John Lennon famously sent his MBE back in protest at British involvement in the Nigerian civil war in 1966.
He felt uneasy about accepting the honour in case it appeared he endorsed the establishment.
Along with the medal, he sent The Queen a note which read: "Your Majesty, I am returning this in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts.
"With Love, John Lennon of Bag."
His MBE medal remained in the vault of the Chancery Department of the Royal Household, but his title remained until his tragic death in 1980.
The rules state that "an individual may decide to renounce their honour voluntarily" but they "would still hold the honour unless or until HM Queen annulled it".
George Harrison
Meanwhile, bandmate George Harrison was not happy when Paul McCartney was knighted in 1997.
Harrison was said to have been 'insulted' by the snub, having always resented being in the shadow of McCartney and Lennon.
In 2013, Cabinet Office papers reveal that Harrison turned down an OBE after Paul was awarded a knighthood because of its lower status.
“Whoever it was who decided to offer him the OBE and not the knighthood was extraordinarily insensitive," friend Roy Connolly told The Daily Mail.
"George would have felt insulted – and with very good reason."
The OBE was recommended by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to acknowledge Harrison's significant contribution to the music industry.
It read: "He was a member of a band that many people would say is the best thing that Britain has ever produced, and possibly the best in the world, The Beatles."
French and Saunders
Comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders turned down OBEs "for services to comedy drama" in 2001.
When they explained why later down the line, Saunders said: “If I felt I deserved a Damehood I’d accept it,” she told Source magazine.
“At the time, we felt that we were being paid very well to have a lot of fun. It didn’t seem right somehow.
“We didn’t deserve a pat on the back. It felt a bit fake to stand alongside people who devoted their lives to truly worthy causes.”
Stephen Hawking
In 2008, genius Stephen Hawking said he had been approached with an offer of a knighthood in the late 1990s, but had turned it down.
It was later said it was down to the government's dealing with science funding and cuts.
Jon Snow
Having declined an OBE in 2000, Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow went on to make a documentary in 2002 entitled ‘Secrets of the Honours System’.
He remains critical of the use of ‘Empire’ in our honours system.
“I tried to find out why I’d been given it and was unable to get a clear answer or, indeed, to find out who had proposed me," he said afterwards.
Michael Sheen
Welsh actor Michael Sheen, who was awarded an OBE back in 2009, handed it back years later.
The star was given the title in the 2009 New Year's Honours for his services to drama, but has told how he gave it back a few years after as he did not want to be a "hypocrite".
During an interview with journalist Owen Jones, the Underworld actor told that he changed his mind about the accolade when he began researching Welsh history.
This happened when he was invited to speak at the Learning and Work Institute’s Annual Raymond Williams Memorial Lecture - which was organised in partnership with The Open University in Wales in 2017
Sheen said he meant "absolutely no disrespect" in returning the OBE, and added he was at the time "incredibly honoured" to have received it.
He added: "I just realised I'd be a hypocrite if I said the things I was going to say in the lecture about the nature of the relationship between Wales and the British state."
Nigella Lawson
The celeb chef turned down the offer of an OBE in 2001.
The TV star, known for her hilarious puns, explained: “I’m not saving lives and I’m not doing anything other than something I absolutely love.”
Skepta
Tottenham native Skepta - real name Joseph Junior Adenuga - says he had turned down an MBE for the 2017 New Year's Honours.
He dropped the bombshell on his song Hypocrisy.
In the second verse of Hypocrisy, the grime artist raps: “Just came back from the Ivors/ And look at what we collected/ The MBE got rejected/I'm not trying to be accepted.”
John Cleese
The Monty Python star was offered a CBE in 1996 but declined because he said they were "silly".
He turned down a number of offers, including a peerafe by Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown in 1999.
H declined because he felt staying in England during the winter months to fulfil his role as a working peer was "too much of a price to pay" to sit in the Lords.
He told The Sunday Telegraph it had been offered "not because I was such a wonderful human being, and because I'd helped them [Lib Dems] a lot".
Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle, director and man behind the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, turned down an honour because he thought it was "was wrong".
"It's just not me", he said. He added thousands were involved in executing the ceremony.
“You can make these speeches about ‘this is everybody’s work, blah blah blah’," he said.
“And you’ve got to mean it, and I did mean it, and it is true, and it’s the only way you can carry on something like that: through the efforts of all the people.
“I don’t know whether I’ll ever get invited back to the Palace.”
Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory author Roald Dahl rejected an OBE in the 1986 New Year’s Honours.
It is thought that he was hoping for a knighthood instead to elevate his status to “Sir” and his wife to “Lady Dahl”.
Tragically, the much-loved author died without any honours in 1990.
Other famous faces who have refused the Birthday Honours
- CS Lewis, writer (d 1963), turned down CBE in 1952
- Graham Greene, writer (d 1991) turned down CBE in 1956
- JB Priestley, writer (d 1984), rejected peerage in 1965 and Companion of Honour in 1969
- Francis Bacon, artist (d 1992) turned down CBE in 1960
- Robert Graves, poet (d 1985) rejected CBE in 1957, and CH 1984
- CS Forester, writer (d 1966) turned down a CBE in 1953
- Eleanor Farjeon, author (d 1965) turned down OBE in 1959
- John Ireland, composer (d 1962), turned down CBE in 1959
- Major Derek Allhusen, Equestrian Olympic medallist (d 2000), turned down MBE in 1969
- Albert Finney turned down a CBE in 1980 and a knighthood in 2000
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