Talk:Ralph Halpern

Knighthood - who could have knighted him?
I found the article stated he was knighted for his services to retail 'by Margaret Thatcher'. I have changed the 'by' to 'under' to acknowledge the honour was during Thatcher's Prime Ministerial tenure. Constitutionally the British Sovereign (Elizabeth II in that case) is the fount of honours and Prime Ministers have not conferred knighthoods the accolade legally only gets carried out by a close male relative or heir of the sovereign if the sovereign is unavailable or too incapacitated to carry it out. The newspaper report cited might have said this but this is incorrect. A more precisely definite phrasing could be given to clarify the relationship between Thatcher and his being given the honour. Would 'recommended' be the word? The only example I know in English history a commoner took it on themselves to make men knights was the Elizabethan favourite the Earl of Essex during a campaign in Ireland.Cloptonson (talk) 06:44, 6 January 2021 (UTC)