Following in footsteps of Sir Sean, Mandela and the Queen

SIR Chris Hoy has already been honoured by his home city after becoming the third recipient of the Edinburgh Award in 2009, after Ian Rankin and JK Rowling.

He will be only the sixth living person to receive the freedom of the city – and the first Scot since Sir Sean Connery more than 20 years ago.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was the last, in 2005, but was under house arrest in Burma at the time.

Nelson Mandela was presented with the honour during a visit to the city for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1997.

More than 2,000 packed into the Usher Hall for Sir Sean’s ceremony in 1991. The only other living recipients are the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, who received the honour in 1947 and 1949 respectively.

Authors John Buchan and JM Barrie are among those to receive the honour before their deaths. Other recipients include singer Harry Lauder, inventor Alexander Graham Bell, Douglas Haig, Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montgomery.