Post by TotalInformation on Nov 4, 2004 22:23:18 GMT
Ex-rebel Clapton receives his CBE
(Filed: 04/11/2004)
London Daily telegraph
Eric Clapton, one of Britain's best-loved rock stars, yesterday received a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace.
The former rebel, who admitted he would have found it hard to accept the honour in his younger days and would have joined the Beatles in "giving theirs back", said he now had the greatest respect for the Royal Family.
Eric Clapton displays his CBE at the Palace
He described the honour as the icing on the cake of his glittering career.
Clapton, 59, was presented with his CBE by the Princess Royal for services to music, but the Surrey-born singer-songwriter said he felt it was also recognition for the work he had done to support drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes.
He was accompanied to the ceremony by his wife, the American Melia McEnery, who, he disclosed, is expecting their third child.
They already have two daughters.
Later, the singer-songwriter said receiving the honour made him feel as though he had grown up.
Clapton, a teenage drop-out from Kingston College of Arts, said: "I had a rebellious streak in me. As a kid I would not have been able to accept this. I was very immature about the way I looked at that. I was against the establishment. Now I have grown up, I really think it is an important thing to be able to set an example of some kind."
Clapton, who was awarded an OBE in 1994, first found fame in the 1960s as a member of the Yardbirds before going on to achieve even greater international acclaim with Cream.