British Ambassador David Reddaway declared the Irish rock star, born Paul Hewson, an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.
“You have permission to call me anything you want—except sir, all right?” Bono quipped to reporters after receiving the honor. “Lord of lords, your demigodness, that’ll do.”
As he’s Irish, Bono, 48, isn’t permitted to take the title of “Sir” (not that he wants to anyway). The honorary form of address is only granted to citizens of the British commonwealth and United Kingdom, and Ireland officially declared itself a republic in the years following World War II.
Then noting the presence of his kids, he joked that his youngest child, John, “thought I was becoming a Jedi.”
Good for him.