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hose calling for the late Sir Jimmy Savile to be stripped of his knighthood, including the Sun, may well be wasting their time, as the Cabinet Office has revealed that individuals cease to hold the honour after they die.
The Cabinet Office confirmed on Tuesday morning that in Savile's case there was no knighthood to revoke, after David Cameron had raised the prospect of the Jim'll Fix It presenter being posthumously stripped of the honour in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse against young girls.
"It's a living order and then you cease to be a member when you die," a Cabinet Office spokesman said. "There isn't an honour to revoke."
Cameron stopped short of revealing whether he felt the former DJ should lose the honour, but suggested that the case should be considered by a Whitehall committee which has the power to recommend forfeiture.
Earlier this year Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin, heavily criticised over the bank's near collapse in 2008, was stripped of his knighthood. In the past, only convicted criminals or people struck off professional bodies have had knighthoods taken away.
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