Friedel was awarded the gold medal of the French CNRS in 1970, elected as a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1988. He was a fellow of American Physical Society and fellow of European Physical Society. He received in 1964 the Holweck Prize and in 1988 the Von Hippel Award. He was appointed a Knight of the Légion d'Honneur, promoted to Officer and subsequently to Commander on 31 March 1989 and to Grand Officer on 30 December 1995. He was promoted to Grand Cross on 14 July 2013.