What do you give to the richest man in the world?

Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, was given an honorary knighthood by the Queen today in recognition of his contribution to high-tech enterprises in the UK and his charitable activities in the Third World.

Mr Gates is now a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, allowing him to put the letters KBE on his business card - although, since he is not a British or Commonwealth citizen, he cannot call himself 'Sir Bill'.

Previous recipients of the gong include Ronald Reagan, George Bush senior, comedian Bob Hope, and Rudi Giuliani, the former crime-busting mayor of New York.

"It's a great honour to have the association with this country and receive an award like this," Mr Gates said as he posed for photographers and TV cameras, holding his silver KBE medallion enclosed in a small black box with a velvet lining.

"The UK was the first country in which Microsoft set up a subsidiary outside the US and our experience in the UK has been significant in shaping our international growth," he said. Microsoft's UK facilities include Research Cambridge, a laboratory established in 1997 that employs 80 scientists.

Mr Gates is heavily involved in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has an endowment of around $28 billion and has already committed $4.9 billion to good causes in the developing world.

Mr Gates received the honour at Buckingham Palace, 12 months after it was first announced, although the Queen admitted to him that she was not much of a computer buff.

"She said all the kids do (use computers) and they are very useful ... but typing is not as natural for her as it is for young people," Mr Gates said afterwards. "She was very nice."

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