Comedian and philanthropist Billy Connolly was knighted by Prince William at Buckingham Palace this morning for his services to entertainment and charity.
The 74-year-old joked that he should have a fancier name to truly be a knight.
“I feel as if I should be called Lancelot or something. Sir Lancelot, that would be nice; Sir Billy doesn’t quite have the same ring.”
He also spoke of the recent sexual assault accusations that are plaguing Hollywood elites like Harvey Weinstein and, most recently, Kevin Spacey.
“I think the air is going to be cleared and a lot of things that should have been done years ago are going to be done to protect young men and women,” he said.
“I think that’s going to spread to government, to industry, to university, to all sorts of realms, anywhere power is exercised over the powerless.
“Men will have to get a grip on themselves.”
Speaking to Press Association, he added men will have to learn “things they should have known years ago – manners”.
“It’s been very, very unfair because [the perpetrators of sexual abuse] have held their careers as a sort of ransom which is a deeply and desperately dastardly thing to do.
“So they’ve made them feel ashamed of themselves, which is a horrible thing to do to a person.
“Your ego is so important to an actor or performer of any kind and to smash it that way is unkind in the extreme.”
Sir Connolly recently told the BBC he was embarrassed when he found out he was going to be knighted.
“I am a little embarrassed but deep within me, I’m very pleased to have it,” he said.
Despite being accompanied by his wife Pamela Stephenson, the comedian lamented that his late parents and sister couldn’t see him accept the honour.
“I wish my sister was here,” he admitted.
“My sister Flo died last year and she would have loved that, and my parents are both dead, so I wish they were here to see it.”
The actor had been at 10 Downing Street just the day before his knighthood to raise awareness for Parkinson’s disease, which he revealed he suffered from in 2013.
