Danny Dyer: Why I would turn down a knighthood
The former EastEnders actor, 47, explained that he was too 'anti-establishment' for the accolade, bestowed upon individuals by the monarch for a significant contribution to society at large.
Speaking to Radio Times, Dyer said he would follow the example of his 'hero' Harold Pinter, the Nobel-winning playwright, who turned down a knighthood in 1996.
The actor also joked that he was the 'cheaper version' of Sir Gary Oldman, the Slow Horses star who was knighted in King Charles II's Birthday Honours this year.
Asked if he had ever been approached about appearing on the New Year's Honours list, Dyer said: 'Harold was my hero and turned down a knighthood. He was anti-establishment as well, so I don't think it's for me.'
Dyer first starred in Pinter's play Celebration at 22 years old before going on to appear in the writer's productions of No Man's Land and The Homecoming.
Pinter declined the honour of a knighthood – offered to him on behalf of the late Queen Elizabeth II when John Major was prime minister – but accepted the award of Companion of Honour in 2002.
He was then presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005 as well as the French Légion d'honneur in 2007.
Dyer's knighthood comments come after the long-running 'arise, Sir Danny Dyer' quip, which began in 2017 when Michael McIntryre, the comedian, sent a spoof offer of the honour to Dyer's friends and family during a TV show.
As part of the skit, which aired on Michael McIntyre's Big Show, friends, co-stars and family responded to the message with a mixture of congratulations and disbelief.
The actor also discovered he was descended from royalty during his 2016 appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? which showed he was a relative of King Edward III.
'A cheaper version'
Dyer became a household name in EastEnders, the popular BBC soap, from 2013 to 2022. He has since appeared in Disney's hit Rivals, the comedy series Mr Bigstuff, and Three Quick Breaths, the upcoming Irish film.
Discussing his starring role in the latter, the actor quipped that he had been chosen as the 'cheaper' version of Sir Gary, who he joked was approached for the part first but requested £2 million 'just to read it'.
'But I was next in line, which I'm chuffed with,' he said, adding: 'If you go Gary Oldman and I'm next, it's because I'm obviously cheaper. I'm happy to be a cheaper version of Gary Oldman.'
In the thriller, Dyer plays the sole character, an old-school football agent who desperately tries to get his star player one final payday before his own life and his player's reputation implodes.
Speaking about the second season of Rivals, for which filming is underway, the actor said he couldn't reveal much but teased that 'we've got no issues with the old second-album syndrome'.
'I've been blessed with a lovely character. He's not the lead and he doesn't need to be the lead,' he added.
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The Sun
28 minutes ago
- The Sun
I just knew one day people would finally get Nick Drake, says legendary producer Joe Boyd
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But there was something indefinably mesmerising about those three songs passed to him by the quiet teenager who studied English Literature at Cambridge University. As Boyd switched on his 'little Wollensak reel-to-reel tape recorder', he was captivated by Drake's soft but sure tones, allied to his intricate fingerpicking guitar. 'I think the songs were I Was Made To Love Magic, Time Has Told Me and The Thoughts Of Mary Jane,' he says. 'From the first intro to the first song, I thought, 'Whoa, this is different'.' I'm speaking to Boyd to mark the release of a beautifully curated box set, The Making Of Five Leaves Left, a treasure trove of demos, outtakes and live recordings. Rounding it off is the finished product, Drake's debut album for Chris Blackwell's fabled Island Records pink label. In 2025, the singer's status as one of Britain's most cherished songwriters is assured. A troubled soul, Drake died aged 26 in 1974 from an overdose of antidepressants, never enjoying commercial success in his lifetime, never knowing how much he would be appreciated. But Boyd, now 83, had no doubts about the rare talent that he first encountered in 1968. He picks up the story again: 'Ashley Hutchings, the Fairport Convention bass player, saw Nick playing at The Roundhouse [in Camden Town, North London] and was very impressed. 'He handed me a slip of paper with a phone number on it and said, 'I think you'd better call this guy, he's special'. 'So I called and Nick picked up the phone. I said, 'Do you have a tape I could hear?'. He said, 'Yes'.' Boyd still didn't hold out too much hope, as he explains: 'I was very much a blues and jazz buff. I also liked Indian music. 'White middle-class guys with guitars were never that interesting to me — Bob Dylan being the exception that proves the rule. 5 'But Nick was something else. He wasn't really a folk singer at all.' Boyd describes Drake as a 'chansonnier', a French term for a poet singer who performs their own compositions, often drawing on the themes of love and nature. He says: 'I'm always a bit bemused when I go into a record store — one of the few left — and see Nick filed under folk. He's unclassifiable and that's one of the reasons he endures.' To Boyd, Drake's enduring appeal is also helped 'by the fact that he didn't succeed in the Sixties'. 'He never became part of that decade's soundtrack in the way Donovan or [Pentangle guitarist and solo artist] Bert Jansch did. 'So he was cut loose from the moorings of his era, to be grabbed by succeeding generations.' Drake was born on June 19, 1948, in Rangoon, Burma [now Myanmar], to engineer father Rodney and amateur singer mother Molly. His older sister Gabrielle became a successful screen actress. When Nick was three, the family moved to Far Leys, a house at Tanworth-in-Arden, Warks, and it was there that his parents encouraged him to learn piano and compose songs. I'm always a bit bemused when I go into a record store — one of the few left — and see Nick filed under folk. He's unclassifiable and that's one of the reasons he endures. Joe Boyd Having listened to the home recordings of Molly, Boyd gives her much credit for her son's singular approach. He says: 'When you hear the way she shaped her strange chords on the piano and her sense of harmony, it seems that it was reverberating in Nick's mind.' When Drake gave him those three demos, recorded in his room at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, Boyd 'called the next day and said, 'Come on in, let's talk'.' During the ensuing meeting, Drake said: 'I'd like to make a record.' He was offered a management, publishing and production contract. Just as importantly, he had found a mentor in Joe Boyd. What you hear on the box set is the musical journey leading up to the release of Five Leaves Left in July 1969. The set was sanctioned by the Estate Of Nick Drake, run on behalf of his sister Gabrielle by Cally Callomon, but only after two remarkable tapes were unearthed. His first session with Boyd at Sound Techniques studio in March 1968 — found on a mono listening reel squirrelled away more than 50 years ago by Beverley Martyn, a singer and the late John Martyn's ex-wife. A full reel recorded at Caius College by Drake's Cambridge acquaintance Paul de Rivaz. It had gathered dust in the bottom of a drawer for decades. Boyd says: 'I have never been a big enthusiast for these endless sets of demos and outtakes — so I was highly sceptical about this project. 'But when my wife and I were sent the files a few months ago, we sat down one evening and listened through all four discs. 'I was tremendously moved by Nick. You can picture the scene of him arriving for the first time at Sound Techniques. 'This is what he's been working for. He's got his record deal and here he is in the studio. I was stunned.' In pristine sound quality, the first disc begins with Boyd saying, 'OK, here we go, whatever it is, take one.' Drake then sings the outtake followed by some of his best-loved songs — Time Has Told Me, Saturday Sun, Day Is Done among them. It's just man and guitar, recorded before musicians such as Pentangle's double bass player Danny Thompson and Fairport Convention's guitarist Richard Thompson (no relation) were drafted in. Boyd continues: 'The trigger for those recordings, that first day in the studio, was wanting our wonderful engineer John Wood to get a feel for Nick's sound. 'Nick was wide awake and on it. He was excited about being in a studio and he wanted to impress.' All these years later, one song in particular caught Boyd's attention — Day Is Done. 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But you feel that he's very aware of British poetry history.' This is evident in the first lines of the opening song on Five Leaves Left — 'Time has told me/You're a rare, rare find/A troubled cure for a troubled mind.' 'When I think about Nick, I think about the painting, The Death Of Chatterton,' says Boyd. 'Chatterton was a young romantic British poet who died, I think, by suicide. You see him sprawled out across a bed.' I ask Boyd how aware he was of Drake's struggles with his mental health. 'It's a tricky question because I was aware that he was very shy,' he answers. 'Who knew what was going on with him and girls?' Boyd believes there was a time when Drake was better able to enjoy life's pleasures. 'When you read of his adventures in the south of France and in Morocco, it seems he was more relaxed and joyful. 5 'And when I went up to Cambridge to meet Nick and Robert Kirby before we did the first session, he was in a dorm. 'There were friends walking in and out of the room. There was a lot of life around him.' Boyd says things changed when 'Nick told me he wanted to leave Cambridge and move to London. 'I agreed to give him a monthly stipend to help him survive. He rented a bedsit in Hampstead — you could do that in those days. 'Nick started smoking a lot of hashish and didn't seem to see many people. I definitely noticed a difference. 'He'd been at Marlborough, he'd been at Cambridge and suddenly he's on his own, smoking dope, practising the guitar, going out for a curry, coming back to the guitar some more. He became more and more isolated and closed off'. Boyd describes how Drake found live performance an almost unbearable challenge. He says: 'He had different tunings for every song, which took a long time. He didn't have jokes. So he'd lose his audience and get discouraged.' 'It still haunts me that I left the UK' For Drake's next album, Bryter Layter, recorded in 1970 and released in 1971, Boyd remained in charge of production. 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The Independent
an hour ago
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
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Princess Andre throws herself into work despite her parents Peter Andre and Katie Price's explosive feud as she attends the glitzy launch of Superdrug's new campaign
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To be honest there's no rift between me and either of my parents.' Princess also weighed in on why she doesn't get involved in Peter and Katie's public feud following their bitter split 16 years ago. The influencer admitted it is 'not worth' weighing in on their rows. Tensions hit fever pitch recently when Peter, 52, released a statement branding his ex-wife a liar after years of 'staying silent' for the sake of their children. In response to Katie's claims that they have 'always shared the kids', Peter insisted that they moved in with him in 2018 'for their safety' as he accused her of falsehoods. The TOWIE star was in high spirits as she arrived for the celebration in her stylish all-black look However, despite their back and forth, Princess has revealed she won't be having her own say to either parent because she doesn't believe it will do any good. When asked whether she would contact her mum to discuss it, Princess told the Guardian: 'No, she says, it's not worth it. Mum can be annoyed about something and then we send each other a message and we're fine.' During the same interview, Princess also sweetly claimed she didn't want to paint her mother in a bad light because she is 'more stable' than she has been in years. On Thursday, Katie herself also broke her silence on her feud with Peter, insisting she wouldn't be 'bullied or gaslit' in the newest episode of her podcast. The star went onto address speculation about her relationship with her son Junior and daughter Princess, insisting that they get on well, despite claims Junior has tried to 'disassociate' from his mother. Sophie praised her niece Princess for being in 'good spirits' about the attention she's faced since the show aired. Katie then added: 'She knows the score, she knows what it's like, but she also knows, because we always talk, we know that everything's not always what it seems. 'I love my kids, and that's all that matters – and they love me.' Katie responded to Peter 's bombshell statement with a bizarre Instagram post about 'fake Sinners who play the victim' on Friday. Rumours of a 'rift' between Katie and their daughter Princess have been growing in recent weeks after Katie didn't attend Princess's 18th birthday party, or appear on the nepo baby 's fly-on-the-wall ITV television series. Katie later claimed that it was her daughter's management who had told her not to appear on the show. In a lengthy Instagram statement, Katie pleaded 'I'm trying to be the best I can' while noting she hasn't 'always been the best mother'. She wrote: 'Saints and sinners. As we know, in this life we are thought of as Saints and Sinners. I know I will always be a Sinner. That's fair, I allowed myself to fail into reliance on drugs and alcohol. 'At times I was not the mother I should have been while I struggled with mental illness. I have been at times a poor friend, an awful sibling, an an untrustworthy partner. I've self medicated, been unfaithful, damaged myself and those that I love. 'I've had many reasons - I was sexually abused when younger; I've had relationships that have been coercive; and my mental health issues - but I don't want to make excuses.' Katie continued: 'I've recognised my issues and worked to put them behind me. Sometimes I tried and failed, sometimes I succeeded. 'I've pulled myself out of suicidal spiral because I love my children and want to be there for them. 'I don't pretend to be perfect by any means - but I'm trying to be the best I can. Then there are the "Saints". Some are genuine and some have helped me. 'But some Saints are not who they would have you believe they are. They have a carefully managed image which must be exhausting to maintain. 'Some Saints are fake. They play the victim and to succeed in life they need a villain... or at least a Sinner. Without the Sinner they don't get to be the Saint... 'As a Sinner - I sometimes get bored of these Saints. But maybe I should feel sorry for them, It must be such hard work having to pretend all the time. 'Anyway, all you Sinners keep your heads up and keep trying to be better. All you Saints, it's ok not to be perfect xxx' Peter shared his side of the story on Thursday, explaining: 'For sixteen years, I have stayed silent in the face of repeated lies from my ex-wife and her family, out of respect for my children and loved ones, but staying silent has been incredibly frustrating. That ends today. 'The latest comments about my children's welfare and living arrangements compel me to set the record straight. For well-documented reasons, and for their safety, Junior and Princess came into my care in 2018 and remained with me until they reached adulthood. 'In 2019, the family courts issued a legally binding order to enforce this arrangement. I have never made this public before, out of respect for my children. 'In 2011 and 2015, publicly documented court cases found my ex-wife had made false claims. She was ordered to pay substantial damages and legal costs, and to apologise to me and my management. The same falsehoods are being repeated today.
