Former NYC Mayor Bloomberg gets a knighthood

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York, was awarded an honorary British knighthood, the British Embassy in Washington announced Monday.

Bloomberg, 72, was given the honor by Queen Elizabeth II for his "prodigious entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors," the Embassy said, and British ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott noted Bloomberg's playing "a key role in forging transatlantic diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties."

Bloomberg is a well-known Anglophile with a home in London; in his statement of thanks he referred to Britain as "a place I have long considered my second home."

He will not be allowed to call himself "Sir Michael" since he is not a British citizen, but can add "KBE," or "Knight of the British Empire," to the end of his name. He also will not attend the ceremony in Buckingham Palace at which knighthoods are formally bestowed by the Queen.