Arise Sir Colin? Oscar Winner Firth In Line for Knighthood

  • Share
  • Read Later

Actor Colin Firth holds the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in "The King's Speech" at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre on February 27, 2011 in Hollywood, California. AFP PHOTO/MARK RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

First he played a king. Now Colin Firth may be in line to meet a queen if he picks up a knighthood in Her Royal Highness’ Birthday Honors List.

The list will be announced this June and if Firth is knighted, in a bizarre, meta sense, he would be receiving the award from his “daughter,” as Firth’s Best Actor Oscar-winning role was as King George VI, who was father to Elizabeth, who, of course, became Queen Elizabeth II. Nominations are now closed and will be considered by a committee led by the Cabinet Office.

(More on TIME.com: See pictures of Colin Firth)

Back to reality and a Cabinet source told the Daily Mail that, “Colin has been a great ambassador for Britain throughout his career and his sensitive portrayal of King George VI has won him much admiration among the Royal Family – and, of course, the film’s many fans.”

That’s a salient point as it’s been recently reported that the Queen found The King’s Speech “moving.” When NewsFeed asked scriptwriter David Seidler about this at the BAFTA’s last month, he responded with relief that the Queen hadn’t thrown him in the Tower of London.

The only potential spanner in the works is Firth’s recent interview with fellow Brit, CNN’s Piers Morgan, where he admitted he found it a “problem” that the Royal Family is unelected. But mum’s still the word as the Cabinet Office confirmed that discussions were ongoing, and wouldn’t comment further. The same goes for Buckingham Palace but if the Queen decides that bygones should be bygones, Sir Colin will just have to get used to his new title.

(More on TIME.com: See the top 10 movies of 2010)