Reports have surfaced that indicate the late former Beatle George Harrison refused an OBE from the Queen.
The OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) was going to be awarded to The Beatles’ lead guitarist Harrison in 2000, but he turned it down for undisclosed reasons.
The reports were revealed by The Mail on Sunday, who also quoted an acquaintance of Harrison’s, journalist Ray Connolly, who claimed that Harrison would have been annoyed that he was offered an OBE when fellow Beatle Paul McCartney was given a knighthood.
Connolly said: “Whoever it was who decided to offer him the OBE and not the knighthood was extraordinarily insensitive. George would have felt insulted – and with very good reason.”
However, maybe George Harrison simply shared John Lennon’s ambivalence towards the Monarchy. Lennon famously returned his MBE to the Queen back in 1969, as an act of protest against the Vietnam war. He wrote:
“Your Majesty,
I am returning my MBE as a 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”
He also jibed the the Monarchy in person at the 1963 Royal Variety Performance, which you can watch below. I’d like to believe that Harrison was much more likely to have not been concerned with receiving recognition from the Queen, rather than being jealous of McCartney’s knighthood. I mean, the guy was a Beatle – what more recognition would he possibly need?
