Microsoft co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates will be awarded an honorary knighthood by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday for his outstanding contribution to enterprise.

Gates, the world's wealthiest man, will receive the award from the queen at Buckingham Palace.

He will become a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an honor that dates back to 1917, though monarchs have been creating knights for hundreds of years.

Among the pomp and grandeur of the formal state rooms at the palace, Gates will kneel in front of the sovereign, who will gently tap him on the shoulder with a sword.