Mick Jagger's 2003 Knighthood Controversy

When Mick Jagger received his knighthood in 2003, the reaction wasn’t exactly a chorus of “Start Me Up.” Keith Richards famously called the Palace “a colonialist” and described the ceremony as “a tiny little, weird ceremony” — his way of saying the whole thing was a sell-out of the band’s original rebel ethos.

Fans and critics alike struggled with the image of the Stones’ frontman kneeling before the Queen, given the band’s history of sneering at authority. Even the timing felt off: the investiture happened just a month after the Stones’ Forty Licks tour, as if Jagger wanted a crown to go with the cash grab.

Richards has since softened a bit, but at the time his public disdain was a rare crack in the band’s carefully managed unity. For a generation that grew up on “Street Fighting Man,” seeing Jagger accept an honor from the establishment felt like the ultimate victory of brand over rebellion.