Stephen Mangan has ruled out the possibility of accepting an honour from Buckingham Palace in the future.
The award-winning actor and comedian is best known for his work in the sitcoms Episodes, Green Wing and I’m Alan Partridge, the Sky comedy Bliss and, more recently, the TV drama The Split.
During a recent interview, a reporter for The Times speculated that, 25 years into his career, it’s fair to assume that “an honour’s on the horizon” in the future.
However, Stephen made it clear this isn’t something he’d be comfortable with.
“I wouldn’t do any of that,” he insisted. “I’m from an Irish republican family. I’m not bowing down in front of King Charles.”
Pressed on whether he’d already been offered an honour that he’d turned down, he added: “I wouldn’t be at liberty to say.”
In the past, a number of prolific Brits have spoken out about their reasons for turning down honours from Buckingham Palace.
Among them are director Danny Boyle, who rejected a knighthood after his work during the 2012 London Olympics because he felt it would be “wrong” to accept the singular honour when so many other creatives worked on the opening ceremony.
David Bowie claimed in 2003 that he’d refused a knighthood, noting: “I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don’t know what it’s for.”
TV chef Nigella Lawson also turned down an OBE for the simple reason she didn’t feel she deserved the title.
“I’m not saving lives and I’m not doing anything other than something I absolutely love,” she claimed back in 2001.
Earlier this month, Harry Potter author JK Rowling claimed earlier this month that she’d turned down both a damehood and a peerage in the past as she “never wanted a title”.
Months earlier, she’d said she wouldn’t accept a peerage were it offered to her a third time.
