I kind of love the minutiae of British honors and rankings. I had to look up the UK’s civilian rankings for this story, and now I am a better person for it. So, in the UK, the Queen and her staff decide which civilians should get special honors (“from the crown”) at the end of the year. It’s always an event, because whoever gets a special honor gets to go to Buckingham Palace and meet the Queen (and the Queen’s purse, and the corgis) and get a little medal or whatever. We know that the Queen can give away knighthoods, but there are actually five categories of civilian honors:

GBE: Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
KBE/DBE: Knight Commander or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
CBE: Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
OBE: Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
MBE: Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

Famously, when the Queen was trying to be “hip” in the 1960s, she awarded The Beatles with MBEs. In later years, John Lennon was critical of the award and he sent his back. Most of the time, the Queen gives MBEs and OBEs to people in the middle of their careers – people who have done well, who are in their 30s or 40s usually. But this time… the Queen is giving Adele (!!) an MBE. Adele is only 25! That being said… it’s only an MBE. It’s the lowest rank.

She’s been keeping a low profile of late, following the birth of son Angelo in October last year
But on Thursday, Adele will break her cover to make an appearance at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, where she will accept an MBE after being named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for her services to the music industry.

Her new title will be Miss Adele Adkins MBE, which stands for member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

The 25-year-old singer has achieved huge success over the past two years with the release of her second album 21. The record topped the charts in more than 30 countries and was number one in the UK for 23 weeks, selling more than seven million copies in the country. It was certified diamond after 24 weeks at the top spot in the US.

Adele is now a global pop superstar and also won an Academy Award in February for her James Bond theme song Skyfall. She is rumoured to be planning the release of her third studio album sometime next year but has been busy being a mum after welcoming Angelo, her first child with partner Simon Konecki, into the world.

Singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, broadcaster Aled Jones and author Joanne Harris were also on the list for MBEs, while broadcaster Claire Balding was honoured with an OBE. The news comes after it was revealed that Adele’s record 21 has topped Amazon’s list of best-selling albums of all time. She is also the only singer to feature on the list twice, as her debut album 19 came in eighth position.

[From The Daily Mail]

I doubt Adele is taking this too seriously – after all, once you’ve made a list of all she’s accomplished in the past four years, it’s sort of like… “Um, you’re ONLY giving her a MBE?” Girl has an Oscar and a shelf full of Grammys, I’m just saying. Still, I want Adele to sing for the Queen. More likely, though, Adele will get on the floor to play with the Corgis.

Photos courtesy of WENN.