KEN RUSSELL - RUSSELL CONVINCED HE HAS MISSED OUT ON KNIGHTHOOD

RUSSELL CONVINCED HE HAS MISSED OUT ON KNIGHTHOOD

British director KEN RUSSELL has given up hope of winning a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, because he has made too many controversial films. Russell has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in cinema, but is convinced his 1971 movie The Devils - which features nudity and satanism - has ruined his chances. He says, "I think I was nearly offered a knighthood years ago when I was doing Women in Love and I was invited three times to the Palace to meet the Queen. "She was very nice and we chatted. She seemed to know an awful lot about nude wrestling. I thought she was warming me up for a gong. Then I did The Devils and I think she went off me after that. I don't think it will ever arrive now."