Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings Fame Is Knighted In New Zealand

Just last year New Zealand once again started accepting knighthoods from the Queen after their long time left leaning government was removed from office after the national elections.  Having spent time living in Australia and spenting a lot of time in New Zealand, I can tell you for whatever reason the political left in those countries do not like the whole British royalty arrangement.  Peter Jackson though obviously isn’t complaining:

In a scene that could have come from one of his “Lord of the Rings” films, director Peter Jackson knelt Wednesday to be tapped on the shoulder with a sword to confirm his appointment as a knight.

Jackson’s investiture ceremony in the New Zealand capital Wellington — his home town and business base — installed him as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

“I feel incredibly humbled and the truth is, making movies is not a solo effort — it involves hundreds of people, thousands of people, so I feel as though I’m accepting it on behalf of a huge industry,” Jackson told reporters.

Jackson said the honour was different from winning an Oscar, and meant a lot more in some ways because of the tradition and the history involved.

By the way you can view pictures of my visit to the Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand where the scenes of the Hobbit village were filmed.  It was an interesting and scenic tour to see the movie.