Queen guitarist Brian May was knighted by King Charles at Buckingham Palace today (March 14).
May was included in the 2023 New Year’s Honours list alongside the Lionesses and more, both for his work in music and his history as an animal rights activist.
The first Honours list from the new King also features national treasures including Stephen Graham (OBE for services to drama) and Frank Skinner (MBE for services to entertainment), the latter of whom said he refrained from telling his family of the honour due to believing it was “some sort of administrative error”.
England captain Leah Williamson is made an OBE. MBEs have been awarded to teammates Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and Ellen White.
Sharing a photo of himself being knighted, May simply wrote: “No words! Bri”.
See the moment below.
Discussing the honour, May told BBC News: “This is a kind of licence, a kind of commission to carry on doing what I’m doing, and it gives me a bit more power to my elbow. So I’m very happy about that.”
Elsewhere, May recently said that Queen used to get “irritated” by crowds singing every line to their songs during their earliest days as a band.
Speaking to Total Guitar magazine, May said initially, they just wanted fans to listen to the lyrics they’d spent hours coming up with.
He explained: “Because we thought: ‘People, just listen. We’re working really hard, so bloody well listen!’ But they were unstoppable.”
