Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott chose the country's national holiday to announce a knighthood for Prince Philip, but the decision was not well received by his fellow citizens, the BBC reported.

Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is the husband of Australia's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II. He has visited the former British dominion on a number of occasions; and to many, that is as far the royal's connection with the country goes.

But Abbott said on Monday, "Prince Philip has been a great servant of Australia.

"I'm just really pleased that in his 90s, towards the end of a life of service and duty, we in this country are able to properly acknowledge what he's done for us," said the prime minister, whom the Telegraph described as a "staunch monarchist."

Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten, meanwhile, criticized Philip's knighthood as "anachronistic" and had considered the news a joke at first.

"Why would we give him our top Australian honor? He's already got a lot of them," the leader of the center-left Labor party said. "It's a time warp where we're giving knighthoods to English royalty."

The Order of Australia -- the nation's official honor system -- since 1976 has included categories for knights and dames, The Associated Press explained. Fourteen individuals received such titles until the categories were abolished in 1986; Abbott reinstated them last year.

Still, the practice seems to be somewhat removed from Australian reality, as opposition lawmaker Terri Butler noted in a tweet: "He didn't really knight a prince, did he?"

Prince Philip, meanwhile, was not the only one to gain an additional title on Australia Day. Scottish-born Angus Houston, the former chief of the commonwealth's defense force, from now on can call himself "Sir Angus Houston."

"Throughout his life, (Houston) has put Australia first," Abbott said. "He immigrated to Australia as an adult; he chose Australia, and we are much the better for it."

Houston, meanwhile, said while receiving the knighthood was "a great honor ... I'd like people to still call me Angus."