Angelina Jolie Named As Honorary Dame For Her Work Against Sexual Violence
Angelina Jolie is a successful actress/director/producer, a humanitarian, a multi-millionaire and a mother of five, and now, an honorary dame. Jolie was given the distinction by Queen Elizabeth, for her work against sexual violence in war zones. She has been working as a UN ambassador for years.
“To receive an honor related to foreign policy means a great deal to me, as it is what I wish to dedicate my working life to,” the A-lister said after co-hosting a four-day summit at The Hague on sexual violence.
Jolie, who stars in the just released Maleficent, has recently made several hints at giving up her acting career to take up humanitarian work full-time. In the meantime, Jolie is just adding to her collection of accolades. An important clarification is that, as she is not a British national, the actress cannot officially hold the title of Dame. Her honorary title means that, much like her fellow US recipients of British titles - including director Steven Spielberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former President Ronald Reagan — Jolie can’t introduce herself as a “dame.” She is still a dame in our hearts, though.
The Queen granted Jolie the title as part of her r annual Birthday Honors List for those doing service to their community or national life.
While heavy on academics and politicians, there are also a few glitterati sprinkled throughout, like Daniel Day-Lewis and Judi Dench, who have both been gifted with the titles. The title marked the end of a four-day summit of participants from Somalia to Kosovo to discuss sexual violence.
Secretary of State John Kerry told participants it was time to “banish sexual violence to the dark ages and the history books.”
“We will not tolerate rape as a tactic of war and intimidation,” he said, according to the New York Daily News.