Sir Michael Caine, once Maurice Micklewhite, has received France’s highest cultural award, the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, an award given to those who have ‘significantly contributed to the enrichment of French cultural heritage’.
Sir Michael then apparently thanked the French for awarding him the Legion of Honour, a much higher award introduced by one Napoleon Bonaparte. According to The Telegraph, Sir Michael’s acceptance speech was in ‘pigeon French’, a faux pas quickly spotted by both its readers.
However, in this instance, it was presumably an intentional faux pas relating to the mention of the Legion of Honour, an often milletary award.