French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius conferred his country’s highest award — Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) — on Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan at the Taj Mahal Palace on Tuesday ‘in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cultural diversity across the world’.

Pic/Satyajit Desai

“It’s my mother’s birthday. If she were alive, apart from being extremely old, she would have been extremely happy that her son got the highest and the most prestigious honour in the world,” SRK said.