Citizens of countries which do not have the Queen as their head of state sometimes have honours conferred upon them, in which case the awards are "honorary". In the case of knighthoods, the holders are entitled to place initials behind their name but not style themselves "Sir". Examples of foreigners with honorary knighthoods are Riley Bechtel, Bill Gates, Bob Geldof, Bono, and Rudolph Giuliani.
The list of Honorary British Knights includes American Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan & HW Bush, American Generals John Pershing, Omar Bradley & Colin Powell, Billy Graham, Alan Gresspan, Bob Hope, Steven Spielberg, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa. If you are interested you can see the list here.
For me I will file this under GIVEMEABREAK :)
Somehow actual knighthood seems diminished when it is conferred upon non-soldiers.
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