ON JUNE 12, 1965, The EMBARGO RESTRICTING PUBLICATION OF THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST WAS LIFTED DURING THE NIGHT OF JUNE 11, SO NEWS OF THE BEATLES' MBE (MEMBER of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) AWARDS WAS SPLASHED ACROSS ALL OF THE BRITISH DAILY NEWSPAPERS ON THE MORNING OF THE 12TH. The Beatles' names were put forward for this honor by Harold Wilson, Prime Minister at the time. Wilson would later remember, "I saw the Beatles as having a transforming effect on the minds of youth, mostly for the good. It kept a lot of kids off the streets. They introduced many many young people to music, which in itself was a good thing. A lot of old stagers might have regarded it as idiosyncratic music, but the Mersey sound was a new important thing. That's why they deserved such recognition." THE BEATLES WERE AT TWICKENHAM FILM STUDIOS TO VIEW A ROUGH CUT OF THEIR SECOND MOTION PICTURE "HELP" FOR THE FIRST TIME WHEN THEY WERE BESIEGED BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE WORLD'S PRESS, RADIO AND TV AND SO CONVENED A LUNCH TIME PRESS CONFERENCE, WHEN Paul said that "MBE must stand for 'Mister Brian Epstein' ". RADIO AND TELEVISION INTERVIEWS WENT INTO BULLETINS ACROSS THE GLOBE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

ALTHOUGH THE BEATLES WERE BEGINNING TO ATTEND MIXing SESSIONS at abbey road, THEY CERTAINLY MISSED ONE FOR "rubber soul" on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1965, FOR ON THIS DAY THE GROUP COLLECTED THEIR MBE MEDALS FROM THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE AND HOSTING A SUBSEQUENT PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE SAVILLE THEATRE. THERE WAS, NATURALLY, CONSIDERABLE NEWSREEL, TV AND RADIO NEWS COVERAGE OF THESE EVENTS. John justified the comparative merits of his investiture by comparing military membership in the order: "Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war – for killing people… We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more."

FAB 4 COLLECTIBLES PROUDLY OFFERS A MOST IMPORTANT AND HISTORICAL SET OF AUTOGRAPHS, EXECUTED ON THE PRESTIGIOUS DAY THE BEATLES BECAME 'MEMBERS of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire': A 7˝" X 3˝" EXCISED TOP SECTION OF an OFFICIAL INVITATION LETTER TO THE CEREMONY HONORING THE BEATLES, SIGNED BEAUTIFULLY BY THE GROUP IN BLUE BALLPOINT PEN.

DESPITE THE HORIZONTAL TEAR BENEATH THE FIRST TYPED LINE ("THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE QUEEN HAS BEEN GRACIOUSLY PLEASED TO GIVE..."), the SURVIVING AND AUTOGRAPHED TOP LETTERHEAD SECTION OF THE page is in excellent condition displaying very minimal handling WITH NO OTHER DISTRACTIONS OTHER THAN A ˝" FAINT AGING STAIN TO THE LEFT OF THE "J" IN JOHN'S SIGNATURE.