LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II will bestow an honorary knighthood on former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, a lifelong admirer of British values and traditions, making him one of only a handful of Americans to receive the award, Britain announced Monday.

In Washington, Weinberger, 70, said he was 'startled' when told several days ago he was chosen for the honor. He will travel to London to accept it Feb. 22, he said.

Weinberger will be made an honorary Knight Grand Cross for his 'outstanding and invaluable contribution' to defense cooperation between Britain and the United States, a Foreign Office spokesman said.

As an honorary knight only, Weinberger will not be entitled to be called 'Sir Caspar.'

'Mr. Weinberger has been a staunch friend to Britain and will be remembered most of all for his unfailing support and assistance during the 1982 Falklands War,' the spokesman said.

Britain defeated Argentina in a 74-day war over the disputed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, situated off the Argentine coast in the South Atlantic. They have been under British rule for nearly 150 years.

British officials declined to be specific, but U.S. assistance in the war was believed to include use of U.S. spy satellite photographs of Argentine military movements.

'A lot of the sort of help he and his department gave are things we will not talk about,' said a British official who requested anonymity. 'But certainly it was of considerable help.'

Weinberger served as defense secretary since President Reagan took office seven years ago and resigned in November because of the illness of his wife, Jane, who sustained a severe back injury and other ailments.

She still is 'very uncomfortable' and suffering 'a great deal of pain' and may not be able to travel with him to London, he said.

The award was recommended by Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Foreign Office said. Britain's ambassador to the United States, Sir Antony Acland, told Weinberger of the award last week.

'It was quite surprising and I was startled,' the California native said in a telephone interview from his temporary office in the Old Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House. 'I didn't know anything about it until I was told by the British ambassador several days ago.'

Weinberger is an avowed Anglophile who often quoted Sir Winston Churchhill in his speeches, chiefly when insisting on taking a tough stance against the Soviet Union. He is writing a book on his seven years at the Pentagon.

'I have always been a great admirer of the country (Britain),' he said. 'I always enjoyed visiting there.'

A staunch conservative, Weinberger had a cordial working relationship with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and often found an excuse to stop in London on trips to Europe during the past seven years, even when there was little business to transact with British leaders.

The Foreign Office announcement said, 'Today the Queen is being graciously pleased to approve the recommendation by the secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs that the Honorable Caspar W. Weinberger be appointed an honorary Knight Grand Cross in the civil division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.'

The award is abbreviated 'GBE.'

Weinberger can use the initials 'GBE' after his name if he chooses even if he can't be addressed as 'sir.'

'You can only use 'sir' before the name if you are actually dubbed with the blade of the sword,' the Foreign Office spokesman said. 'He is not going to be dubbed on the shoulders with a sword. But he can wear the the badge and ribbon if he so wishes.'

The GBE is the more senior of Britain's two honorary knighthoods. The other is the more frequently conferred KBE -- or just plain knighthood.

'It is an extra mark of distinction to be offered the senior of the two,' the spokesman said.

The last American to receive the GBE, in 1976, was Hugh Bullock, president and chairman of the Pilgrims of the U.S.A., an Anglo-American society that promotoes goodwill between the two countries.

The KBE has been awarded to a larger group of Americans -- actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., former Secretary of State Dean Rusk, naturalized citizen Alistair Cooke and philanthropist John Paul Getty II.