Sir Bill English has officially been made a Knight of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

He's among a number of people celebrated at an investiture ceremony at Government House this morning.

Known officially now as Sir Simon William English, he was joined by his wife Mary and other family members who applauded when he received his knighthood.

The former prime minister received a Queen's Birthday Honour for his services to the state.

He was first elected as a member of Parliament in 1990, became the 39th prime minister in 2016 and stepped down from politics earlier this year.

Sir Bill has said he's happy to be referred to by his first name despite the knighthood.

"You don't do the job for the purpose of getting titles ... it's not that important to actually being motivated about the job," he has said.

When looking back on his political career, English was proud to be part of the team that guided the nation through the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), but his main praise was for the New Zealand public.

"Really what got New Zealand through the GFC was the way that everyone across the country buckled down ... everyone got better at their jobs and more productive and that's why the country's in pretty good shape now."