Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) has been chosen to receive an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, according to press reports in Britain.
The honor will be announced Wednesday by Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, according to the reports. Brown's office at 10 Downing Street declined to comment before Brown's speech.
Kennedy, 77, who is battling brain cancer, is one of the best-known American politicians in Britain. He will receive the honor for "services to the U.S.-U.K. relationship and to Northern Ireland," according to the BBC.
Honorary knighthoods are generally given as recognition of achievement in various fields, from politics to sports. The vast majority of them go to British citizens.
Kennedy -- the younger brother of both slain president John F. Kennedy and slain senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy -- would join a select group of Americans who have received the honor.
According to Buckingham Palace, only 85 U.S. citizens have received honorary knighthoods since the queen took the throne in 1952. They have included former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Tommy Franks, Henry Kissinger, Bob Hope, Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates.
However, Kennedy would not be known as "Sir Ted," according to a spokesman for Britain's Cabinet Office, which oversees the honors system. Those who are knighted by the queen are entitled to that moniker, but those who receive honorary knighthoods are not, the spokesman said.
Kennedy, who since his brothers' deaths has been the patriarch of the nation's leading liberal family, had surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor June 2. Experts have said that patients with his form of cancer often die within months of diagnosis, but surgery can help them survive for several years.
The senator gave a stirring address at the Democratic National Convention in August and attended President Obama's inauguration in January. But he suffered a seizure at a luncheon following the inaugural ceremony. Kennedy has stayed involved in legislative issues in recent months, including efforts to reform health care and improve mental health treatment options in the United States, but has mostly stayed out of public view.
The honor will be announced Wednesday by Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, according to the reports. Brown's office at 10 Downing Street declined to comment before Brown's speech.
Kennedy, 77, who is battling brain cancer, is one of the best-known American politicians in Britain. He will receive the honor for "services to the U.S.-U.K. relationship and to Northern Ireland," according to the BBC.
Honorary knighthoods are generally given as recognition of achievement in various fields, from politics to sports. The vast majority of them go to British citizens.
Kennedy -- the younger brother of both slain president John F. Kennedy and slain senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy -- would join a select group of Americans who have received the honor.
According to Buckingham Palace, only 85 U.S. citizens have received honorary knighthoods since the queen took the throne in 1952. They have included former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Tommy Franks, Henry Kissinger, Bob Hope, Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates.
However, Kennedy would not be known as "Sir Ted," according to a spokesman for Britain's Cabinet Office, which oversees the honors system. Those who are knighted by the queen are entitled to that moniker, but those who receive honorary knighthoods are not, the spokesman said.
Kennedy, who since his brothers' deaths has been the patriarch of the nation's leading liberal family, had surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor June 2. Experts have said that patients with his form of cancer often die within months of diagnosis, but surgery can help them survive for several years.
The senator gave a stirring address at the Democratic National Convention in August and attended President Obama's inauguration in January. But he suffered a seizure at a luncheon following the inaugural ceremony. Kennedy has stayed involved in legislative issues in recent months, including efforts to reform health care and improve mental health treatment options in the United States, but has mostly stayed out of public view.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030400651.html
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