Yesterday, Kenneth Branagh was knighted by the Queen of England for somehow making Thor not suck. No! Actually it was for his "services to drama and the community of Northern Ireland."

"It's been a hell of a year for the UK and I feel very honoured to be a tiny part of this part of it," said Branagh, who after his investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace is now among the ranks of the Knights Bachelor, the lowest possible title that gives you the right to be called "sir." But that's really the only practical benefit of being honored anyway, so yay Sir Kenneth! I thought Frankenstein was better than everyone says it is.

Branagh actually met Queen Elizabeth back when he was 19, and he played Hamlet at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Also, this guy was knighted honored yesterday:

Corporal Carl Taylor, from Birmingham, ran 80 feet across open ground under Taliban fire to rescue three terrified young Afghan children, using his own body as a shield as he carried the boys, aged between three and seven, back to their distraught mothers.

Um. Well, acting's important in its own way.

[Sky News, Coventry Telegraph]