Sir Paul’s honour for mum and dad
SIR Paul McCartney paid tribute to his parents as he was made a Companion of Honour for services to music.
The Beatle, 75, was joined by wife Nancy Shevell at Buckingham Palace yesterday morning as he received the honour from the Queen more than 20 years after his knighthood.
Sir Paul said: “I see this as a huge honour for me and my family and I think of how proud my Liverpool mum and dad would have been to see this.”
His former bandmate and only other living Beatle Sir Ringo Starr received a knighthood earlier this year.
Retired ballerina and Strictly Come Dancing judge Darcey Bussell was also honoured at the ceremony as she became a dame for services to dance.
Recipients also included former English cricketer Clare Connor, who collected a CBE, former alpine skier Sarah Lewis, OBE, and Holocaust survivor Dr Martin Stern, MBE. Dame Darcey suggested Prince Harry could be Strictly Come Dancing’s first royal contestant.
She compared the ceremony to getting married, before suggesting Harry would be “fantastic” for the BBC dancing competition.
“It was such a shock, I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
She also revealed she had previously invited the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to sit in the Strictly audience, adding “that would be extraordinary”.
Asked what she would recommend for Harry and Meghan Markle’s first dance at their wedding this month, the 49-year-old told the Press Association: “I’d love to know their first dance, I had Abba – Dancing Queen – so I can imagine they would have something fun like that, but gosh, who knows, everybody has different things.
“He’d probably be great on Strictly, wouldn’t he? He would be fantastic,” she added.