owing to Bing's mental impairment, a New York state court in September declared him incompetent to enter into a marriage contract and annulled the union. Douglass was a patient in the psychiatric ward of Bellevue Hospital at the time and received no settlement except $25,000 to cover hospital expenses. Final years In May 1989, Roberta Peters and Teresa Stratas arranged for Bing to be admitted to the Hebrew Home for the Aged in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York, where he resided until his death. Bing died from respiratory failure as a complication of Alzheimer's disease on September 2, 1997, aged 95, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Yonkers, New York. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Honors In New Year Honours List of 1956, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Bing a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for "services to music." In 1971, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for "services to Anglo-American relations," becoming Sir Rudolf Bing. Throughout his years in America, Bing had remained a British citizen. In 1973, Bing received the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria. References Publications Bing, Rudolf, 5000 Nights at the Opera: The Memoirs of Sir Rudolf Bing, New York: Doubleday, 1972. Bing, Rudolf, A Knight at the Opera, New York: Putnam, 1981. External links Rudolf Bing (in German) from the archive of the Österreichische Mediathek 1902 births 1997 deaths Businesspeople from Vienna Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British people of Austrian-Jewish descent Austro-Hungarian Jews Deaths from respiratory failure Impresarios Opera managers Metropolitan Opera people Knights Bachelor University of Vienna alumni Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)