Why Keira Knightley hid her OBE letter. Actress Keira Knightley collected her OBE for services to drama and charity at Buckingham Palace in mid-December but almost didn’t realise she has been awarded one at all.

Talking on The Graham Norton Show, the Pirates of the Caribbean star admitted that she initially hid her letter telling her she was to receive the award as she feared she was being contacted by the taxman.

She explained: “”I didn’t open the envelope for about three days. It was from the Home Office and it was terrifying because I thought I was in trouble with tax and that I had messed it up and that they were going to take away the house. So, I hid the letter! After three days, I thought, ‘I am a mother, I am responsible and I am going to confess to my husband that I’ve messed up.’ So, I opened it and it was a prize!”

The Pride and Prejudice star attended the ceremony with her parents, Sharman Knightley and Kevin William Knightley, and her husband, James Righton.

Keira, who has daughter Edie with James, has revealed how having therapy after suffering a breakdown at the age of 22 has helped her cope with motherhood.

She said: “Your body just created life and now it’s shifting in order to feed it. That’s monumental and we’re all expected to go: ‘Oh no, all good, I’m groovy – I haven’t slept, I’m fine. That I’m able to forgive myself for not being brilliant [as a parent] every f**king day is probably because of that breakdown.”