Cristiano Ronaldo – prestigious award

Dear Editor,
On Monday, the President of Portugal presented probably one of the greatest footballers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, with one of the highest awards achievable in Portugal.
This prestigious award was created in June 1960 and is named The Grand Officer of the Order of Infante D. Henrique.
This is basically the English translation and, for clarity ONLY, is perhaps the equivalent of a UK Knighthood.
However, the differences are quite substantial, as a UK Knighthood can only be issued by the reigning Monarch and presented at Buckingham Palace.
On receiving a UK knighthood, that person adopts a prefix to their name as (Sir/Dame) i.e. Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Cliff Richard, etc, etc.
Portugal has had no reigning Monarch since 1910, so any prestigious award is presented by the reigning President.
Therefore, Cristiano Ronaldo will have no prefix before his name and will still be addressed by his birth name.
However, I have no doubt that the award itself will be reward enough for this humble and now proud young man.
It is now clear to me that any award issued in Portugal carries NO prefix. The title of Sir/Dame can only be adopted if you are presented with a Knighthood by the Monarch in the UK.
There are persons living in Portugal who are not Portuguese, who have been recognised for their services to the community with a Certificate/Informal Medal who have decided for, I assume, personal reasons to adopt the title of Sir/Dame.
This is not only incorrect but I assume illegal. Also an insult to those persons who are genuinely a Sir/Dame.
The majority of people will already know this and ignore making any comments.
The individuals concerned remind me of the Hans Christian Andersen nursery rhyme, The King is in the all together.
Colin Precious
By email