Appointed a Companion of Honour in the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours List. Awarded an honorary DLitt by Oxford University in 1995. He allegedly declined a British Knighthood in 1990. In the Independent on Sunday 2006 Pink List - a list of the most influential gay men and women - he came no. 29, down from 8. He allegedly declined British knighthood in 1990 for his services to the Arts but he accepted the Companion of Honor in 1997.
