Paul McCartney to be made Companion of Honour

About

Paul McCartney was made a Companion of Honour in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours list, for services to music. The formal ceremony would be organized a year later, in May 2018.

The Companion of Honour is a higher award than the Knighthood Paul McCartney received 20 years ago, in March 1997.

I’m very happy about this huge honour, and with the news coming on my birthday weekend and Father’s Day, it makes it colossal!

Paul McCartney

From Wikipedia:

The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements and is “conferred upon a limited number of persons for whom this special distinction seems to be the most appropriate form of recognition, constituting an honour disassociated either from the acceptance of title or the classification of merit.“

Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes regarded as the junior order to the Order of Merit. Now described as “awarded for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time“, the first recipients were all decorated for “services in connection with the war” and were listed in The London Gazette. […] The order consists of the Sovereign and a maximum 65 members. […]

Last updated on March 23, 2021