MICHAEL Caine speaks French, but not a lot of people knew that - until today. From the CM
Under the chandeliers of the French Culture Ministry, the voice of Alfie and Charlie Croker launched into a jokey five-minute address without notes after he became a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.
The French was Cockney-flavoured and fractured, but it impressed the guests who had turned out to see one of France’s favourite Britons receive the top Gallic arts decoration. The only trouble was that he believed that he had received the Legion of Honour.
“I had always thought you had to have a French wife to get the Legion of Honour, but it turns out you don’t,” Caine told Frederic Mitterrand, the arts minister, after he had hung the ribbon with the medal around his neck.
There was a little embarrassment in the gilded salon of the Palais Royal, next to the Louvre in Paris, because the Arts Order is less august than the Legion, which has also been given lately to Clint Eastwood and other foreign stars.
“Someone told me it was the Legion of Honour,” Caine, 78, said after leaving.
The misunderstanding did nothing to mar a celebration of French affection for the British “monstre sacre du cinema” - screen legend - as the minister called him. 
