And where we again?

I awoke this morning to news that Sir Mark Thatcher had been arrested, accused of trying to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. "Well, fuck my teeth with a leather brick," I thought, "that's just shocking - when was Thatcher's spawn awarded a knighthood?".
The fact that he'd get involved in some sort of third-world coup plot, if he thought he could make money from it, was believable - but the knighthood - what's he done to deserve that? He's basically a far-right-wing crook and very rich arms dealer. Oh, hang on - that's probably just about enough to be knighted these days...
Particularly when your mother was Prime Minister.
Although, it seems, the real reason was that his father's knighthood was a hereditary baronet, and thus passed to him, after Dennis died. Another argument against the hereditary system?