Sir Paul McCartney has been made a Companion of Honour at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Friday. Speaking about becoming a member of the order, which has a maximum of 65 members at any time, the former Beatles band member called the ceremony "a huge honour". In a statement to the Press Association, he 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." Paul was accompanied to Buckingham Palace by his wife, Nancy, who looked beautiful in a long navy suit jacket and matching hat.
Sir Paul called the Companion of Honour 'a huge honour'
Sir Paul, 75, was honoured for services to music, 20 years after he was knighted by the Queen. His fellow bandmate, Sir Ringo Starr, was knighted back in March. Speaking about the honour, he said: "A lot of people I don't know wrote letters saying, 'Congratulations, it's about time,' but for me the time is when it arrives, and that's now. I just never thought of it. I just got on with my life and here we are. As I said, I'm just really surprised."
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The Beatles received MBEs in 1965
Although members of the Order of the Companions of Honour hold no special title, those conducted are entitled to use 'CH' after their name. Other Companions of Honour include JK Rowling, Dame Maggie Smith and Sir David Attenborough. Darcey Bussell also attended Buckingham Palace, where she was honoured with a damehood by the Queen. She joked about her recommendations for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first dance together as husband and wife, saying: "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." Darcey added that she would like to see Prince Harry on Strictly Come Dancing, adding: "I would love to see Harry ... I think he would try everything. He'd probably be great on Strictly, wouldn't he. He would be fantastic."