Bono Receives Honorary Knighthood

U2 front man and anti-poverty campaigner Bono has accepted an honorary knighthood at a brief ceremony in Dublin on Thursday.

Bono - real name Paul Hewson - accepted the insignia of the knighthood from the Queen during the ceremony held at the official residence of British Ambassador David Reddaway in Dublin.

He was awarded the knighthood in recognition of his services to the music industry and his humanitarian work, particularly his "extraordinary and inspirational commitment to relieve global poverty and focus international attention on the plight of Africa, the Aids pandemic and the third world debt crisis", said Mr Reddaway.

There will be no 'Sir Bono', however, as Bono is not a British citizen. He seemed to prefer it that way.

"By the way, you can call me pretty much anything you want, except sir," he said. "You can call me lord of lords or a demi-god."

Bono was joined at the reception by band members The Edge and Adam Clayton, as well as the singer's wife Ali and their four children - Jordan, Eve, Eli, and John.

A letter from Prime Minister Tony Blair was read out at the small gathering.

"I'll leave it to others far more knowledgeable than me to talk about U2's music - all I'll say is that, along with millions of others right across the world, I'm a huge fan," Mr Blair wrote.

Bono's work on Live 8 and the Make Poverty History Campaign played a large part in the outcome of the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005, which saw world leaders pledge some $25 billion in aid to Africa and universal access to anti-HIV drugs in Africa by 2010.

As part of U2, Bono has performed at numerous humanitarian concerts, including Live Aid, Live 8 and Amnesty International's Conspiracy of Hope tour.