Despite historic achievements in 2025, Rory McIlroy is not on the New Year’s Honours List. A HMRC review is likely blocking his knighthood.
Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy was considered a leading candidate alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, both from England, for a knighthood by King Charles III. However, all three golfers missed out this year. In 2025, McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam with his Masters victory, becoming the first European ever to do so. He also shone at the 2025 Ryder Cup, helping Team Europe secure their first away win since 2012 at Bethpage State Park near New York City.
Nevertheless, McIlroy’s name was missing from the list of 1,157 honorees on the New Year’s Honours List, which is first reviewed by the Cabinet Office and then by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) before being submitted to the Prime Minister and the monarch. According to a report from The Telegraph, HMRC intervened, similar to the case of footballer David Beckham, who had to wait several years for his knighthood due to tax investigations.
Did Rory McIlroy Deliberately Avoid Taxes?
McIlroy, recently named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, was involved in urban renewal projects in Liverpool, Birmingham, and Sheffield in 2013, which were regarded as legal tax reliefs at the time and accepted by authorities. Later, HMRC ruled that these projects constituted tax avoidance and is currently investigating if the projects exploited the ‘Business Premises Renovation Allowance’ scheme to deliberately sidestep tax payments. Currently, there is no evidence that McIlroy intended to evade taxes.
However, since HMRC has a say in the knighthood decisions, such suspicion or ongoing investigations can lead to rejection. Neither the Northern Irish golfer nor the British government have commented on the matter so far.