Bill Bryson would no longer accept an honour from the Queen because 'there's a tendency for it to make people just stop trying'

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Bill Bryson has many titles - he made an OBE and is a Fellow of the Royal Society - but would think twice before accepting any such honours again. The writer was asked at the Cheltenham Literature Festival whether he would accept a spot on the Queen’s honours list, to which he said "no, I don't think I would now.” “I would think twice about it because my own feeling is that it rewards people in a way that, very often, they feel that’s all they have to do, that they don’t have to do anything more." I know lots of people in the House of Lords — some because of inheritance, some because of appointment – who deserve it, but I just think there's a tendency for it to make people just stop trying.” He went on to admit that these claims are “completely hypocritical”, citing his acceptance of an honorary OBE. He continued: ”As I say in the book I always put vanity in front of principle…" Bill Bryson’s The Road to Little Dribbling is available now.