William Hickey

Bringing the gossip since 1933

- By Robert Meakin

ROCK legend Ozzy Osbourne, who died this week aged 76, narrowly missed out on receiving his long-craved knighthood.

While fans relentlessly campaigned for the Black Sabbath frontman, pictured, to be made Sir Ozzy, the singer himself had publicly admitted he “couldn’t imagine anything better”.

It finally emerged in 2023 that the reformed hellraiser, who enjoyed a warm rapport with the King, was closer to receiving the gong than many imagined. Asked about the prospect of an Ozzy knighthood at the time, a spokesman for the then Government's honours team confirmed: “Mr Osbourne has been under consideration for a while.”

Had fate not intervened, would the Prince of Darkness have finally got his invitation to the Palace?

MONTHS after his previous attempt at Irish in TV series MobLand met with mockery, Pierce Brosnan again struggles to convince.