Ultimately, the opinions of extremists, be they motivated by ideology, religion, or racism cannot be modified by accomodating or pandering to those opinions or to react to them with silence for fear of provoking them further - this simply demonstrates that they have the power to influence government and encourages them further.
Precisely my thoughts. There will always be some people who feel an honour is deserved and some who think someone else would have been a more deserving candidate - that is not so much the issue. Rather, it is in the discretion of those conferring honours on whoever they wish.