Gilbert and Sullivan well, and on 13 May 1883, at a party to celebrate the composer's 41st birthday, the guests, including the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), heard a direct relay of parts of "Iolanthe" from the Savoy. This was probably the first live "broadcast" of an opera. During the run of "Iolanthe", in 1883, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria. Although it was the operas with Gilbert that had earned him the broadest fame, the honour was conferred for his services to serious music. The musical establishment, and many critics, believed that this should put an end to his career as
Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan Tread" ("Pirates"), "The Soldiers of Our Queen" ("Patience"), and "There Lived a King" ("The Gondoliers"). In "The Girl Said No" (1937), which uses songs from the operas, a dance hall girl is forced to join a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe. In "The Naughty Victorians", an X-rated film subtitled "A Man with a Maid", the entire score is G&S music, and many musical puns are made, with the G&S music underlining the dialogue appropriately for those familiar with G&S. In "The White Countess" (2005), the overture to "H.M.S. Pinafore" is used in the soundtrack. In other films, characters sing songs from