Former Beatle Becomes A Knight

From backbeat to bended knee: Paul McCartney, teen idol of the hippie era, went to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday to receive the ultimate symbol of respectability - knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.

“My mum and dad would have been extremely proud - and perhaps they are,” said the 54-year-old ex-Beatle bassist, garbed in sober, traditional tail coat, his silver-streaked hair brushing his shoulders.

Keeping with tradition, McCartney bent down before the queen on one knee, and she dubbed him knight, laying a sword on each of his shoulders.

Hundreds of fans, some wearing “Arise Sir Paul” T-shirts, cheered his arrival and waited outside the palace until he emerged.

The Beatles broke up in 1970, and the fourth Beatle, John Lennon, was killed in New York in 1980.

In 1965, McCartney and the rest of the “Fab Four” were dubbed members of the Order of the British Empire - one step below knighthood.

Battling stage fright before meeting the queen, the four took refuge in palace restrooms just prior to getting their awards - and calmed down by smoking marijuana.

Some other members of the Order of the British Empire sent their honors back to protest what they called the system’s devaluation.

Sir Paul said Tuesday that the surviving members of the Fab Four, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, make fun of his knighthood.

“They call me ‘Your Holiness.”’