Queen un-knights Mugabe

by julianw | June 25, 2008 at 03:01 pm

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Earlier today Britain ratcheted up the pressure on Mugabe by cutting ties to Zimbabwe's cricket team. But it didn't stop there. In a decision approved by the Queen, the British Foreign Office chose to take away Robert Mugabe's honorary knighthood. I don't want to meet the man who can have his country's cricket team snubbed and knighthood stripped in a single day and still continue to be a murdering dictator.

Robert Mugabe has been stripped of his honorary knighthood, as the pressure grows on him to postpone Friday's run-off election.

The Queen has approved the annulment of the honour on the advice of the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, in protest at Mr Mugabe's misrule.

"This action has been taken as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided," the Foreign Office said.

What took Britain so long to de-knight him?

Mugabe was created an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1994. Calls for the honour to be revoked date back at least to 2003, when the foreign affairs select committee in parliament suggested such a measure.

Bloggers weighed in:

First of all, I didn't know that Mugabe was an honorary knight. Did you? But then I also didn't know that Nicolae Ceausescu belonged to this illustrious circle of worthies before the knighthood was taken away from him in 1989.

What is the mysterious link between receiving a knighthood and being a dictator (or ageing pop star, for that matter)? Is it causal or merely coincidental?

And second: That's of course one hell of an effective political measure to take. I'm sure Mr Mugabe will be impressed.