Peter Howson hands back OBE over ‘lack of pride’
ARTIST Peter Howson told yesterday how he has handed back his OBE because he no longer feels proud to be British.
The painter, who backed the campaign for Scottish independence, was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2009. He was the British official war artist in the 1993 Bosnian Civil War and his work is exhibited worldwide.
But he said he dislikes how the UK is portrayed in other countries, and feels Britain is becoming “a kind of satellite of America”. Howson, 57, said he accepted the OBE because he “wanted it” at the time, but had since changed his mind. He said: “I have given it back. When I announced it I got about 90 per cent very supportive and the other 10 per cent saying ‘why did you accept it in the first place?’ I accepted it because I wanted it then, and I changed my mind.”