Zeffirelli gets honorary knighthood for services to British arts

John Hooper in Rome
Wednesday November 24, 2004
The Guardian

The oft-honoured Franco Zeffirelli will tonight collect a new distinction when he gets an honorary knighthood in Rome.

Though Zeffirelli is being commended for his "valuable services to British performing arts", his knighthood will further tighten already close relations between Tony Blair's government and that of Silvio Berlusconi.

Apart from being a noted Anglophile and one of the world's foremost stage and screen directors, Zeffirelli is a politician and long-standing supporter of Italy's prime minister.

Since 1996, the director of a string of Shakespeare movie hits has also been a member of the Italian senate, representing Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1358114,00.html