CELEBRITIES, sports stars, and even political leaders have all faced the shame of having distinctions removed after falling from grace.
Jimmy Savile was originally admired for his extensive charity work and was even knighted – before calls for the honour to be taken away after his vile sex attacks were later exposed.
News Group Newspapers LtdJimmy Savile outside Buckingham Palace after his knighthood from the Queen[/caption]
When did Jimmy Savile receive a knighthood and what for?
In 1971, Jimmy Savile was awarded an OBE, an honour awarded by the Queen to recognise the contributions one has given to the country.
He was officially knighted in 1990.
The radio and TV personality was described by The Guardian as a “prodigious philanthropist” and was admired for his charity work.
Savile was estimated to have raised £40million for charity, in particular Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
However, it is now believed that he sexually abused the vulnerable patients there and at other hospitals.
Horrifyingly, he was the face of childhood safety campaigns and even a pamphlet called Stranger Danger, which would warn children to be careful of suspicious adults.
Was Jimmy Savile’s knighthood taken away?
In 2012, the Cabinet Office confirmed that there was no knighthood to revoke in Savile’s case.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron raised the prospect of Savile being posthumously stripped of the honour in the wake of the allegations of sexual abuse against young girls.
However, a Cabinet Office spokesman said: “It’s a living order and then you cease to be a member when you die.
“There isn’t an honour to revoke.”
Savile would have been stripped of his knighthood if his crimes were exposed during his lifetime.
The Forfeiture Committee said: “The Forfeiture Committee can confirm that had James Wilson Vincent Savile been convicted of the crimes of which he is accused, forfeiture proceedings would have commenced.”
Knighthoods can only be held by a living person and fall away after their death, so they cannot be removed once the person has died.
Where is Jimmy Savile now?
Savile was found dead at his home in Roundhay on October 29, 2011, two days before his 85th birthday.
He had previously been in hospital with pneumonia, an infection that causes an inflammation in the lungs.
His death was not considered suspicious.
In the days leading up to his death, Savile was quoted as saying: “So many women, so little time.”
He added: “I’ve got a bouncebackability, but this time I don’t seem to be bouncing back.”
His satin gold coffin was displayed at the Queens Hotel in Leeds, with the last ever cigar he smoked and two of his This Is Your Life Books.
Savile was then buried in Woodlands Cemetery in Scarborough, where the locals requested to have his body exhumed and cremated.
However, nobody was prepared to pay the £20,000 to dig him up.
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