Stephen Fry chuffed to the heavens’ to get knighthood

Actor and broadcaster Sir Stephen Fry said he was chuffed” to receive his knighthood and joked that if it would help his charity work then they should make me a duke”.

- HELEN WILLIAM

The actor, screenwriter and author was speaking after he was knighted by the King in recognition of services to mental health awareness, the environment and to charity.

Speaking after yesterday’s ceremony at Windsor Castle where he was watched by his husband Elliott Spencer, mother Marianne and sister Joanna, Sir Stephen, 67, said: “I am very chuffed. I am chuffed to the heavens, to the high walls of the castle.”

Sir Stephen added: “My mother is beaming like a lighthouse. She is very, very happy, especially given the grief I gave her, my father and the rest of the family as a child and a teenager.

“It is some kind of public event that is not embarrassing for them.”

There is “no question” that the special day is payback to his family for their support over the years and also, on a personal level, it is it “very important” that the knighthood is in recognition of his charity work, he said.

Sir Stephen has been president of the charity Mind since 2011 and since 2009 has been vice-president of conservation charity Fauna & Flora International.

On whether the knighthood will help him progress his charity efforts, he joked: “Whether the knighthood helps in that sense, I don’t know.