There’s little left to like about the British honours system, if there ever was. In recent times it became, functionally, mostly a way for people who donate a lot of money to the Conservative party to feel like a special Very Important snowflake and/or get into the House of Lords to aid whichever cruel and unusual cause the leader of the day was trying to get through the Commons . Although some people who aren’t made of true evil do also get recognised, which can make it a bit confusing.

As are the specific names given to the honors. There are actually five classes on offer, which Wikipedia lists as being named in the follow preposterous manner:

  • Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE)
  • Knight Commander or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE or DBE)
  • Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)
  • Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)
  • Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)

I personally thought a GBE was some kind of handheld Nintendo console, but there we go.

In any case, you might note that they all heavily feature the word “Empire”, which for a country that no longer has one, and almost certainly should be very ashamed of what it did when it did have one, is odd. And off-putting to quite a few people outside of the stereotype red-faced self-entitled political donors who fantasise about nothing more than ruling over the disenfranchised masses whilst holding Margaret Thatcher’s hand. Several folk have in fact turned down receiving the honour because of the connotations associated with the E word.

Benjamin Zephaniah, poet, was offered one. He wasn’t keen:

Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word “empire”; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.

Howard Gayle, footballer, also had to politely decline:

The fact is that I felt it would be a slap in the face for so many to be part of that British empire process. When you look at what the empire did to my family and our ancestors, it just doesn’t bear credence.

So finally, the name might be changed. Apparently even the King of England is on board with switching the E in OBE to mean Excellence instead of Empire. I mean, the exact same thought had been had 20 years ago, but I suppose it’s just possible its time has finally come.

Presumably if the honour is there to celebrate “Excellence” then in theory most of the ones awarded in the last few years will have to be handed back. Honestly I suspect the system is quite honestly so rotten that abolishing it wholesale is the only real answer - but in the absence of that an acknowledgement of what “empire”, then and now, actually meant is better than literally nothing.