Honours
- In the 1972 New Year Honours, Savile was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), which he appended to his signature.
- In the 1970s he was awarded an honorary green beret by the Royal Marines for completing the Royal Marine Commando speed march, 30 miles (48 km) across Dartmoor carrying 30 pounds (14 kg) of kit. Following the allegations of child abuse, the Royal Marines have "erased" the award.
- Madame Tussauds London unveiled a waxwork likeness of him in 1986. It was retired in the 1990s.
- In the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours he was knighted (Knight Bachelor) "for charitable services". Following the allegations of sexual abuse, British Prime Minister David Cameron indicated in October 2012 that it would be possible for Savile's honours to be rescinded by the Honours Forfeiture Committee.
- Savile was honoured with a Papal knighthood, Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great (KCSG) by Pope John Paul II in 1990. After the scandal broke, the Catholic Church in England and Wales asked the Holy See to consider stripping Savile of the honour. In October 2012, Father Federico Lombardi told BBC News,
" firmly condemns the horrible crimes of sexual abuse of minors, in the light of recent information should certainly not have been bestowed. ... As there does not exist any permanent official list of persons who have received papal honours in the past, it is not possible to strike anyone off a list that does not exist. The names of recipients of papal honours do not appear in the Pontifical Year Book and the honour expires with the death of the individual."
- He held an honorary doctorate of law (LLD) from the University of Leeds.
- He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bedfordshire in 2009, which was posthumously rescinded in October 2012.
- He was an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists (FRCR).
- He had the Cross of Merit of the Order pro merito Melitensi.
- He was a Freeman of the Borough of Scarborough. This honour was removed in November 2012.
Read more about this topic: Jimmy Savile
Famous quotes containing the word honours:
“Vain men delight in telling what Honours have been done them, what great Company they have kept, and the like; by which they plainly confess, that these Honours were more than their Due, and such as their Friends would not believe if they had not been told: Whereas a Man truly proud, thinks the greatest Honours below his Merit, and consequently scorns to boast. I therefore deliver it as a Maxim that whoever desires the Character of a proud Man, ought to conceal his Vanity.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“Come hither, all ye empty things,
Ye bubbles rais’d by breath of Kings;
Who float upon the tide of state,
Come hither, and behold your fate.
Let pride be taught by this rebuke,
How very mean a thing’s a Duke;
From all his ill-got honours flung,
Turn’d to that dirt from whence he sprung.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“If a novel reveals true and vivid relationships, it is a moral work, no matter what the relationships consist in. If the novelist honours the relationship in itself, it will be a great novel.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)