In which year did John Lennon return his MBE?

John Lennon returned his MBE in 1969. He sent the medal back on 25 November, four years after the Beatles had received the honour from Queen Elizabeth II in the 1965 Birthday Honours.

Lennon’s decision was a political protest. In a letter addressed to the Queen, Prime Minister Harold Wilson and the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, he cited Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria–Biafra conflict, British support for the United States during the Vietnam War and the disappointing chart performance of his single “Cold Turkey.” The last reason was deliberately sarcastic.

The MBE was not formally annulled in the same way as a resignation from an honour; Lennon physically returned the insignia as a public gesture. He had reportedly kept it at his aunt Mimi Smith’s bungalow before taking it to Apple Corps’ offices in London. The medal was later rediscovered in a royal vault in 2009, four decades after Lennon returned it. A frequent mistake is placing the event in 1965, the year he received the MBE.