Former England football captain David Beckham, actor Gary Oldman and The Who’s Roger Daltrey have all been knighted, while stage performer Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and former Tory minister Penny Mordaunt were all given damehoods in the King’s birthday honours.
More than 1,200 people from across the UK were handed honours, with the top gong going to Sir Antony Gormley, the sculptor behind the Angel of the North, who was recognised for his services to art with a Companion of Honour.
News of Sir David’s knighthood broke last week after the football star had been in the running for more than a decade. He has been made a knight for his services to sport and charity – working with Unicef and Malaria No More – two decades after he was first made an OBE.
“Growing up in east London with parents and grandparents who were so patriotic and proud to be British, I never could have imagined I would receive such a truly humbling honour,” said the former Manchester United star. “To have played for and captained my country was the greatest privilege of my career, and literally a boyhood dream come true.”
Dame Elaine was honoured for her services to charity and music, holding senior roles at two charities – the Children’s Trust, a charity for youngsters with acquired brain injury, and the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust, which supports disabled tennis players.
“It’s all very exciting,” the West End legend said. “I’ve got all these different emotions coming at me all at once. I’m proud and I feel grateful and I’m thrilled and surprised, and so it’s been quite a lot to take in.”
Sir Roger, who co-founded The Who in 1964, was recognised for services to charity and music, having been a patron of Teenage Cancer Trust since 2000. He said: “It’s strange, it’s an experience that I’ve never had before, I’m very humbled by it.”
“It’s kind of weird, but I am deeply honoured to get this, especially for the charity for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and I accept it on their behalf really, because this honour is really for all unsung heroes,” Sir Roger added. “It’s a dream come true for me, but it’s especially a dream because the charity means so much.”
When Dame Pat, known for her Regeneration rilogy, received a letter through the post announcing her damehood, she thought it was an income tax bill.
“I picked up the envelope from the carpet and the first thing I noticed, what beautiful quality paper it was, and I thought, this is either the income tax getting really angry, or it’s something from the palace or the Cabinet Office.
“Nobody else does that kind of quality of paper. I still sort of had to read the first paragraph several times before it sank in.”
Sir Gary was recognised for his services to drama.
The actor won an Oscar for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the 2017 film Darkest Hour and also played Harry Potter’s godfather in the fantasy franchise.
Dame Penny, the former defence secretary, said of her honour: “It is lovely to be appreciated in this way, and I’m very conscious that everything I have ever got done has been with the help and efforts of others.”
Her profile was boosted by her sword-carrying role as lord president of the council during the King’s 2023 coronation ceremony.
Nationwide chief executive Debbie Crosbie, the only woman to lead a “big six” bank in the UK, has also been given a damehood for her services to financial services.
Emma Bridgewater, best known for her ceramics company, was also the recipient of a damehood.
Strictly Come Dancing duo Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have been made MBEs, as have teenage darts star Luke Littler and his sporting rival Luke Humphries.
Former EastEnders actor Anita Dobson and film actor Samantha Morton have been made OBEs.
While Georgia Harrison, a Love Island contestant turned online privacy campaigner, has received an MBE.
Tracy-Ann Oberman, who also appeared in EastEnders, has been made an MBE for services to Holocaust education and combating antisemitism.
Ms Oberman said: “This recognition is deeply meaningful and I’m grateful to all who have supported this journey”.
The oldest person on the list is 106-year-old William Irwin, a veteran and the founder of Coleraine Winemakers Club, who was recognised for his services to the community with a British Empire Medal (BEM).
The youngest recipient, 11-year-old disability campaigner Carmela Chillery-Watson, has been made an MBE for her charity work fundraising £400,000 for Muscular Dystrophy UK.
Dr Lisbet Kristina Rausing, who co-founded Arcadia - one of the UK’s largest philanthropic funds - was recognised in the honours list after giving more than £1bn to charity, as was her brother Hans Kristian Anders Ruben Rausing, who has pledged to give £100m a year in memory of his wife who died in 2024. They damehood and a knighthood, respectively, for their services to the arts.
In what is thought to be a first, three members of the same family have been named in the same honours list. Jenna, her mother Caroline and father Duncan Speirs have each been awarded a BEM for founding children’s cancer charity. Calum’s Cabin was founded after Jenna’s twin brother Calum died of a brain tumour, aged 12.
Campaigners who have fought to tackle the rise of knife crime in the country have also been recognised for their work.
Pooja Kanda, whose 16-year-old son was murdered with a ninja sword near his Wolverhampton home, has become an OBE, while Alison Madgin, the mother of 18-year-old Samantha Madgin, who was knifed to death in Wallsend, is made an MBE alongside her daughter Carly Barrett.
Women make up 48 per cent of those honoured, with 11 per cent of recipients coming from ethnic minority backgrounds.
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