which prime minister?

[lillagrace1]

which prime minister awarded the beatles mbe's?

[shammydodger]

"Man of the People", Harold Wilson.

[unruliejulie]

John sent his back though didn't he?

[brian j john]

if i remember a few honours were returned when the beatles were awarded them

[JudgeJ]

I might be wrong but I always understood that Her Majesty the Queen awarded such honours.

[shammydodger]

You are indeed, JudgeJ. The monarch of the day, or a stand-in, presents such honours. The honours are awarded by the government, of which the Prime Minister is the head. :)

[unruliejulie]

I just googled and it said Harold Wilson. I think John and Paul returned theirs, not sure about George and Ringo, but its more than likely that they did.

[JudgeJ]

Perhaps we are only dealing in semantics, shammydodger, but I understand that the Queen chooses the recipients upon the advice of the Prime Minister. I would therefore say that the awards are ultimately within the Monarch's gift and not the Prime Minister's.

[unruliejulie]

heres a bit of info on the subject.Might help clarify things.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_honours_system

[shammydodger]

Then we will have to agree to disagree, which is no big deal :)