Dame of what?
How to decline an honour
Over the years, countless people have declined British honours—far too many to list1. Some refusals have been quiet and dignified, others fiery and impassioned. Among the most amusing is that of Doris Lessing, the Persian-born British novelist who was once invited to become a Dame of the British Empire. Her response, written on this day in 1992 and sent to John Major’s Principal Private Secretary, can be found below. It’s followed by footage of Lessing outside her home in 2007, stepping out of a black cab and being informed that she’d just won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her reaction—an exasperated “Oh Christ”—only reinforces the fact that Doris Lessing was so adept at receiving honours, she should have been given far more of them.
24th November, 1992
Dear Alex Allan,
I am sorry I did not reply earlier, but I was in the States.
Thank you for offering me this honour: I am very pleased. But for some time now I have been wondering, “But where is this British Empire?” Surely, there isn’t one. And now I see that I am not the only one saying the same.
There is something ruritannical2 about honours given in the name of a non-existent Empire.
And there is another thing. When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British Empire I found myself in: that is, old Southern Rhodesia.
And surely there is something unlikeable about a person, when old, accepting honours from an institution she attacked when young?
And yet...how pleasant to be a dame! I would adore it. Dame of what?
Dame of Britain? Dame of the British Islands? Dame of the British Commonwealth? Dame of ....? Never mind.
Please forgive my churlishness. I am sorry, I really am.
Yours sincerely,
Doris Lessing
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Having said that, a list exists.
Love it and especially the video. Thank you!
She tells a story of how she wondered if her editor publishes her work based on its quality or on her name. So she sent an old manuscript to him, one that had been rejected before she became famous. He published it without question. Case closed. She was a feisty old lady. Gotta love that.