Daniel Day-Lewis Knighted by Prince William at Buckingham Palace

Prince William (left) and Daniel Day-Lewis

Landov

11/15/2014 AT 03:45 PM EST

Here's one award Meryl Streep can't take away from Daniel Day-Lewis.

Though the actor joked while receiving the 2013 Best Actor Oscar for Lincoln that Streep was the first choice to play America's 16th president, Day-Lewis found himself tops on the list for a distinctly British honor Friday: being knighted by Prince William at an elegant Buckingham Palace ceremony.

The 57-year-old actor, who has racked up a record-breaking three Best Actor Oscar wins among many other awards, was honored for his services to drama, and the Duke of Cambridge, 32, administered the ceremonial two shoulder taps on a kneeling, tuxedoed Day-Lewis.

News of the impending knighthood was announced on the Queen's Birthday Honours list this past June. Day-Lewis kept his thoughts about this honor short and heartfelt, saying he was "entirely amazed and utterly delighted in equal measure," according to U.K.'s The Telegraph .

Day-Lewis, a British-Irish dual citizen, stepped to the podium to claim his first Oscar in 1990 for portraying paraplegic artist Christy Brown in My Left Foot. After two more nominations – for 1993's prison drama In the Name of the Father and 2002's Martin Scorsese-directed Gangs of New York – his next statuette would come in 2008 for playing an ominous oil man in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, which turned his character's line "I drink your milkshake" into a ubiquitous catchphrase.

Though Prince William didn't appear to ask Day-Lewis for parenting advice, the actor – a father of two sons with wife Rebecca Miller, 52 – probably would have had plenty to share about how to take care of the rowdy Prince George.

For now, as the heir to the British throne joked earlier in the week, Prince William will have to settle for putting bells in the pockets of his wandering son.