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Hitchcock And Dahl Turned Down Queen's Honours

27th January 2012

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Legendary director Alfred Hitchcock, author Roald Dahl and artist LUCIAN FREUD are among the famous faces who have previously rejected honours from British monarch Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen presents her list of honourees twice every year, acknowledging the public service of the most prominent British and Commonwealth citizens in a variety of fields, including entertainment, industry and government.

But not everyone holds the accolade in high regard, and more than 250 people - including sculptor Henry Moore, painter Francis Bacon and Brideshead Revisted author Evelyn Waugh - have snubbed the opportunity to be recognised by the monarch, according to newly-released government documents.

Psycho filmmaker Hitchcock turned down an award in 1962, although he later relented and accepted a knighthood prior to his death in 1980.

Members of the British government were forced to publish the documents on Thursday (26Jan12) under the Freedom Of Information Act.