The former Goon, Spike Milligan, heads the show-business and sporting cast in this morning's New Year's Honours List with an honorary knighthood.
The list contains awards for all Britain's Olympic gold medallists, and marks Coronation Street's 40th birthday with an MBE for "Ken Barlow" actor, Bill Roache.
"Sir" Spike retained his father's Irish nationality and famously refused to swear the Oath of Allegiance required to obtain a British passport. When his friend Prince Charles observed that he, too, had to swear the oath, and urged him to think again, the former Goon replied: "Yes, but it's your mother, isn't it? You don't get board and lodging at Buckingham Palace if you don't swear an oath."
Other non-British nationals honoured in the list include Denmark's Peter Schmeichel, the former Manchester United goalkeeper, and Italian top jockey Frankie Dettori, who escaped death in a plane crash earlier this year. They both receive honorary MBEs, while Irish and American actresses Fiona Shaw and Zoe Wanamaker receive honorary CBEs.
There is a knighthood for oarsman Steve Redgrave, who secured his fifth consecutive Olympic gold in Sydney and has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and an OBE for Denise Lewis who won the heptathlon title in Sydney. She became the first British woman to win a multi-event athletics gold since Mary Peters' triumph 28 years ago.
There is an MBE for world darts champion Phil Taylor, nicknamed "The Power" and described as the best darts player in history. The top cricket award in the list, a CBE, goes to Ted Dexter, the former England batsman.
Show business, the arts and science are well represented in the list. Paul Scofield (78), one of the great Shakespearean actors of his generation, is made a Companion of Honour.
The same honour also goes to Sir Harrison Birtwistle who has been at the forefront of modernist contemporary music for the past 20 years.
There is a knighthood for Tom Courtenay, the star of significant and influential films such as The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Billy Liar.
And a knighthood, too, for astronomer Patrick Moore, who has presented The Sky At Night for more than 40 years and had the minor planet 2602 named after him in 1982.
Following Prince Charles's cameo appearance during last month's special "live" edition, Coronation Street's 40th birthday is celebrated with the award of an MBE to Bill Roache, who as Ken Barlow is the only surviving member of the show's original cast.
Sue Lawley, hostess of Desert Island Discs, receives an OBE, while playwright Peter Shaffer, Oscar-winning author of Amadeus, becomes a knight, and actress Charlotte Rampling gets an OBE in the Diplomatic List "for services to acting and cultural relations". Tiggy Legge-Bourke, former nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry, becomes a Member of the Royal Victorian Order.
Lady Fretwell, founder of Passports for Pets, which has successfully campaigned for a relaxation of Britain's quarantine laws, is awarded an OBE.
The full list of honours awarded to people in Northern Ireland is available at the Irish Times website, www.ireland.com