A dark knight in the kingdom: Sir Mick

The concept almost boggles the mind: Mick Jagger an English knight. As in ... dedicated. Gallant. Brave. Audacious. God-fearing. Chivalrous.

Audacious ... maybe. But a Rolling Stone chivalrous?

Would the late Sir Winston Churchill choke on his stogie if he knew that Jagger was at the head of Queen Elizabeth’s good-guy class? Would Winnie flip his top hat if he’d been told that Jagger, the so-called squire of the secret sex room at the old Studio 54, the gent who was nearly tossed into prison after a 1967 arrest for drug possession, was to be a knight?

Jagger, Jumpin’ Jack Flash himself at the venerable age of six-oh, will on Friday formally join a portentous pop-culture roster that already includes Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Sean Connery, Dame J.K. Rowling (of “Harry Potter� fame) and Sir Elton John, when he is to be dubbed Sir Mick at the throne at Buckingham Palace.

To Jagger, apparently, a knighthood isn’t quite up there with, say, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

When the queen and her minions first announced in June 2002 that Jagger would be named on the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours List -- he was formally invited as Michael Philip Jagger -- he asked for a royal rain check: With preparations already underway for the Stones’ 40th anniversary “Forty Licks� tour, Jagger was granted a stay. Financially, it was the right thing to do: The international “Licks� spectacular, which played 116 venues, grossed almost $300 million, according to Billboard.

Those knighted with Jagger -- Bobby Robson, the Newcastle United manager, playwright Tom Stoppard, Daily Telegraph editor Max Hastings -- all collected their honors within a few months of the announcement.

Later, the rock star said he hadn’t exactly been holding his breath in anticipation. “Noel Coward didn’t get a knighthood until he was 80. Tom Stoppard’s older than me -- he didn’t get a knighthood until recently,� Jagger said. “I didn’t expect to get one. I just didn’t.�

Keith Richards, the other half of the Glimmer Twins and the most consistently stoned Stone, was even more blunt in his ruminations.

“I thought it was ludicrous to take one of those gongs [awards] from the establishment when they did their very best to throw us in jail,� Richards told a British music magazine, referring to his and Jagger’s 1967 conviction on drug offenses, later overturned.

So has knightdom been devalued? Yes, votes George Gordon, former New York bureau chief for the Daily Mail. “It’s been devalued by the politicians, and now by the fading royalty, who seek some popularity in promoting people they’d never speak to, like Jagger.

“The thing is,� Gordon says, “he’s no worse or any better than lots of the old crooks and hangers-on that get a knighthood.�