NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, March 3, 2016, 12:00 PM
(Originally published by the Daily News on March 5, 1975.)
Actor Charlie Chaplin kisses his wife Oona outside of Buckingham Palace in London, March 4, 1975, after being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in a private ceremony.
LONDON, March 4 - Too frail to kneel Charlie Chaplin was dubbed Sir Charles by Queen Elizabeth today in the ornate ballroom of Buckingham Palace - three miles from the slums where he grew up in poverty.
The Welsh Guards' band played the haunting theme from Chaplin's film "Limelight" as the king of comedy, now 85, was brought in a wheelchair before the British queen.
She smiled. He sat forward, looking somewhat bewildered.
Takes Honor Sitting Down
Queen Elizabeth took a ceremonial sword and tapped him on both shoulders, saying softly: "Arise, Sir Charles Chaplin, Knight Commander of the British Empire."
But the white-haired comedian was unable to get to his feet.
The emotional moment was just 20 seconds in the 75-minute parade of 170 Britons receiving royal honors, but hardly an eye was left dry.