Photo: Dave Thompson/AFP/Getty Images
On March 11, 1997, Paul MCCARTNEYformer member of the most successful rock band in history, The Beatles, was knighted by the Queen isabel II for his “services to music”.
The 54-year-old, at the time, from Liverpool became sir paul at a centenary ceremony of pomp and ceremony at Buckingham Palace in central London.
Fans waited outside in a scene reminiscent of the Beatlemania from the 1960s. The crowd cheered as McCartney drove through the doors in his limousine and he responded with a thumbs up.
McCartney’s wife, Linda, who was battling breast cancer, did not accompany him, but three of their four children were at the palace. “I would have loved the whole family to be here, but when we heard there were only three tickets, we had to pull straws,” McCartney said. Linda McCartney succumbed to cancer 13 months later, on April 17, 1998.
As for the then-surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, Sir Paul said that since they learned he would be knighted, “They call me ‘Your Holiness’”.
In October 1965, McCartney, along with band members John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, collected MBE (Member of the British Empire) medals, much to the surprise of the British establishment.
Lennon, who returned his MBE in 1969 as a protest against the war, was assassinated in New York in 1980. Harrison would also succumb to cancer, passing away on November 29, 2001.
McCartney admitted that he was very nervous before the ceremony, but said it had been a great experience. “Proud to be British, wonderful day and it’s a long way from a small terrace (street) in Liverpool,” he told reporters.
Aides said he will not call himself “Sir Paul,” the title conferred on him by the queen when hit him on each shoulder with a drawn sword as he knelt on the investiture stool.
McCartney’s knighthood was considered backward even by the conservative standards used in Britain, where most such honors are awarded to judges, scientists and politicians.
McCartney formed the group Wings after the Beatles split in 1970, and made records with the likes of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder before attempting to compose classical music and recording several solo albums.
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