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Bill Gates to Receive Honorary UK Knighthood

jolyon writes "Yahoo is reporting that Bill Gates will receive his honorary UK knighthood on Wednesday. He doesn't get to call himself 'Sir' though. He becomes a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire."

18 of 743 comments (clear)

  1. Not the first Bill ... by pavon · · Score: 5, Funny

    to have a Most Excellent Adventure through knighthood. Does this mean he call himself Bill H Gates, Esquire now? Party on Dude!

    sorry, so so sorry

    1. Re:Not the first Bill ... by dema · · Score: 5, Funny

      Damn, grandparent beat me to the joke, and parent beat me to complaining about being beaten to ):

  2. Pah.... by Lovepump · · Score: 5, Funny

    Almost all of us Brits have that title. It's handed down from father to son, in the same way the family bible would be.

    We all live in castles too.

    When does mc chris get is knighthood?

  3. The commander's coat of arms... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Blue Shield of Death.

  4. Next up for the XBOX2 by Crim-Prof · · Score: 5, Funny

    Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire or KCOTMEOOTBE

  5. OSD peasant yells by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Come and see the patents inherent in the system!

    Help help! We're being repressed!

  6. Re:DOJhood! by ciroknight · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hopefully the queen will do more than "gently tapping" Gates with the sword.

    Here's to hoping Thursday's headline involves a headless Gate ;)

    --
    "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
  7. Douglas Adams quote by shades6666 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "The idea that Bill Gates has appeared like a knight in shining armour to lead all customers out of a mire of technological chaos neatly ignores the fact that it was he who, by peddling second-rate technology, led them into it in the first place." (Douglas Adams)

    Now all he needs is the shining armour :-)

  8. Arise! by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Funny

    Arise!
    Sir Embrace of Extend!
    Sir Protector of FUD!
    Sir Blue of Screen!

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  9. Titles by Exluddite · · Score: 5, Funny

    .."Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire." Protector of the Order of the BSOD, Royal Disseminator of FUD, and Patcher of the Realm.

    --
    What does this button do...
  10. Re:How much does it take? by bladesjester · · Score: 5, Funny

    "For some reason the United States aren't part of it"

    Might have something to do with that little disagreement we had with the British a couple hundred years ago...

    --
    Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
  11. Re:DOJhood! by DangerSteel · · Score: 5, Funny

    I will only laff if afterwards the Queen mother says "There can be only one!"

  12. Re:WTF? by UserGoogol · · Score: 5, Funny

    ARTHUR: O Knights of Free, we have brought you your shrubbery. May we go now?

    HEAD KNIGHT: It is a good shrubbery. I like the laurels particularly,... but there is one small problem.

    ARTHUR: What is that?

    HEAD KNIGHT: We are now... no longer the Knights Who Say 'Free'.

    KNIGHTS OF NI: Free! Shh!

    HEAD KNIGHT: Shh! We are now the Knights Who Say 'GNU/OpenKXEckySlashBangColonWhimpleDotCoDotUK++'.

    ARTHUR: Not dotcom or dotorg?

    HEAD KNIGHT: Of course not! We're British!

    --
    "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
  13. Re:DOJhood! by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Queen Mum is dead, you insensitive clod!

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  14. Re:Well.... by gahzinia · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does the name "Robin Hood" ring a bell?

  15. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 by hey! · · Score: 5, Interesting

    of the US constitution:

    No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

    (emphasis mine)

    So, Mr. Bill could be Sir Bill if he can get Congress to pass a bill giving him permnission to receive it. As it is, he can only receive the "honorary" honour, so to speak.

    Recent American KBE's (according to my friend Google) include Tommy Franks, Alan Greenspan, Wesley Clark and Andres Previn. Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell, a KCB, which IIRC is more exclusive. Of course, Reagan, Bush the First and Cap Weinberger got GCBs, which is a more exclusive degree than KCB.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  16. Re:DOJhood! by JudgeFurious · · Score: 5, Funny


    I can picture someone standing near the queen whispering into her ear "Do it, you'll never get a chance like this again! For the love of god woman just lop his head off!"

    And then when she doesn't it'll be "And you call yourself a monarch! Real kings and queens of England are spinning in their graves right now. You could have at least held him for ransom."

    --
    Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
  17. Re:DOJhood! by smittyoneeach · · Score: 5, Funny

    But...there was no NetCraft announcement...

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear