MIA has revealed that her MBE medal has a surprising family history.
On Tuesday, the "Paper Planes" rapper was awarded an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), an order of chivalry bestowed upon those who have made major contributions to the arts, welfare organisations and public service.
MIA, whose full name is Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, chose to take her mother, Kala Pragasam, to the ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
This is after she revealed in June – when it was announced she had made the honours list – that her mother has been making the medals, which are given out, for more than 30 years.
To mark the celebratory moment, the British performer shared a close-up photo of the pink medal she was given by Prince William on Instagram.
In the caption, MIA revealed that the accolade was one of thousands of similar awards that Pragasam and her cousin have sewn for the Queen since they began working for the Crown in 1986.
“Mum actually made this one!!!,” the singer wrote.
“They don't make this ribbon anymore. I actually got one of the MBE medals she stitched.”
In a second Instagram post, MIA paid tribute to her mother, a refugee from Sri Lanka, who was granted asylum in England in the 1980s.
“Today I'm accepting this in honour of my mother who worked for minimum wage to give us a better life,” she wrote.
“As a working class first generation immigrant it's great to be recognised for my contribution. Having freedom to speak my truth and to do it through music has helped me speak for those who do not have those privileges. I will continue fight for those who are silenced or persecuted by others.
“Btw mum loves the new saree pin that she made with my cousin.”
When it was first announced that she had been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, MIA said her mother was the main reason she decided to accept the award, explaining that when her mother moved to England hand-stitching the medals was one of the only manual labour positions she could find where English wasn't required.
“She spent her life in England hand sewing 1000s of medals for the Queen. No matter how I feel or what I think, my mother was extremely proud of the job she had,” MIA wrote.
“It's a very unique situation for me where I get to honour her most classiest minimum wage job ever.”
To collect her MBE for her services to music, MIA wore a white Burberry trouser suit with a sheer jewel-encrusted top and a pair of metallic silver heels.
As well as being a talented rapper, singer, songwriter and producer, MIA is also an activist and regularly speaks out against the lack of diversity in the music industry.
