Nowadays, potential recipients are contacted before any public announcement to confirm in writing that they wish to be put forward for an honour, thereby avoiding friction or controversy.
Examples are E. M. Forster, Paul Scofield, Doris Lessing, Harold Pinter (although Pinter's widow, Lady Antonia Fraser, was later appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire),[7] David Hockney, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Augustus John, V. S. Srinivasa Sastri, Francis Crick and Paul Dirac.
Prior to May, the last former prime minister to accept a peerage upon leaving the Commons was Margaret Thatcher in 1992, and her husband, Denis, was created a baronet.
Three of her successors – John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – declined a peerage, whilst Rishi Sunak continues to serve as an MP.
[52] These included: In addition to these, many offers of baronetcies have technically been declined, since this is a hereditary honour and was one way, until recent times, for the Crown to raise money from landed gentry.
[58] As no official provision exists for (unilaterally) renouncing an honour, any such act is always unofficial, and the record of the appointment in The London Gazette stands.
Any recipient can also request that the honour not be used officially, e.g. Donald Tsang, ex-Chief Executive of Hong Kong, was knighted in 1997 but has not used the title since the handover to China.