Knighthoods Bestowed On Patrick Stewart and Peter Jackson

I would normally have something very witty to say in my opening sentence, but not in this case, this is too big an honor for two individuals who truly deserve it. Yorkshire England native, Patrick Stewart who is best known for his role on the television show and in movies as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" – has been given the great honor of knight in Queen Elizabeth II's New Year honors list. Patrick Stewart may now add the title of "Sir" to the beginning of his name. The 69-year-old actor only recently returned to the British West End following a long career in Hollywood and on Broadway. The writer and director Peter Jackson was also Knighted in his homeland of New Zealand where the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was filmed and won a total of 17 Academy Awards a few years ago. The title of Knight is approved by the queen, the country's head of state. As a total geek to the sci-fi and fantasy genre, I would like to extend our congratulations from those of us here at SciFiPundit, to both of these gentlemen for their outstanding work and their contributions to both stage and screen. And for those who do not know the rules of knighthood here is how it goes. In descending order, the honors are knighthoods, CBE, OBE and MBE. These honors are bestowed by the queen, but recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public. Knights are addressed as "sir" or "dame." Recipients of CBEs, OBEs and MBEs have no title but can put the letters after their names.