Ringo Starr Has Been Knighted
Ringo Starr is now officially Sir Richard Starkey.
Less than three months after the honor was announced, the Beatles drummer received his knighthood from Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, at a ceremony earlier today at Buckingham Palace.
"I'll be wearing it at breakfast," Starr told the BBC about the medal he was given. And even with all the money and fame he's achieved in his career, he said that formal acknowledgment from the royal family "means a lot, actually. It means recognition for the things we’ve done, musically and in life. So I was really pleased to accept this award.” He added that it was "way up there" with all the other awards he's received over the decades.
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Starr said that he and Paul McCartney had dinner in Los Angeles together, where McCartney, who was knighted in 1997, gave his former bandmate a bit of advice on getting through the ceremony: "He said, 'Keep smiling.'"
Back in 1965, all four Beatles received MBEs from Queen Elizabeth II for their contributions to British culture, a move that was met with protest from several previous recipients who returned their medals in protest. Starr was the only one in attendance at his knighting, and he admitted that he was "a bit shaky on my own."
Starr also refuted the long-running story that John Lennon told about the Beatles being so nervous at their ceremony that they went into the bathroom and smoked marijuana. George Harrison later said that it was just tobacco, but Starr said that it never happened. "I know. Who said that?" he asked, laughing. "I don't know. I'm not keeping that rumor going."