Some British treasures have been recognised on the New Year Honours list this time around and have shared touching comments about their nomination. Stephen Fry, Sadiq Khan and Gareth Southgate are all to be knighted by King Charles.
Other well-known names also make the list, like author Jacqueline Wilson, who will become a Dame Grand Cross (GBE). Two-time Team GB Olympic champion and Tour de France cyclist Tom Pidcock, 25, will become an Office of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Actress Carey Mulligan will become a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Also in the world of TV and film, Bafta-winning actress Sarah Lancashire has been recognised in the New Year Honours. The actress has won plaudits for her performances in TV shows including Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax, following her breakthrough role as Raquel Watts in soap opera Coronation Street during the 1990s. Lancashire, 60, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama. She said: “It’s an unexpected delight.”
After the Horizon IT scandal, several honours will also go to those who campaigned on behalf of wrongfully convicted subpostmasters.
Dame Jacqueline Wilson will be made a Dame Grand Cross (GBE)
(Image: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Sir Stephen Fry, 67, commented on his knighthood. He told the PA news agency he felt “startled and enchanted” after receiving the letter.
The actor and presenter known for his roles in Blackadder, The Hobbit and hosting quiz show QI was recognised for his services to mental health awareness, the environment and to charity. Since 2011, he has been president of the mental health charity Mind and supported the conservation group Fauna and Flora International, of which the Prince of Wales is a patron.
He added: “When you are recognised, it does make you feel a bit ‘crikey’, but I think the most emotional thing is that when I think of my childhood, and my dreadful unhappiness and misery and stupidity, and everything that led to so many failures as a child.
“And for my parents, really, what a disaster. I mean, every time the phone rang, they thought, ‘Oh, God, what has Stephen done now?’. It was a sort of joke in the family.”
Gareth Southgate is to be knighted after his eight-year tenure as England’s national mens’ football team manager
(Image: FRANK AUGSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Sir Gareth Southgate is to be knighted for his services to association football, after leading the Three Lions to the finals of Euro 2020 and 2024, and the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup.
He resigned after England’s 2-1 final defeat to Spain in July, having fallen just short of glory in every tournament during his eight-year stint. Sir Gareth declined to comment on the honour.
Meanwhile, Sir Sadiq, 54, was honoured for political and public service, having been the capital’s mayor since 2016. He said: “I am truly humbled to have received a knighthood in the King’s New Year Honours.
“I couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London. It’s the honour of my life to serve the city I love, and I will continue to build the fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London that all of the capital’s communities deserve.”
Martin Brundle will be made an OBE
(Image: Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images)
Other notable mentioned go to TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh, 75, who said it was a “teary moment” when he found out he would become a CBE. Broadcaster and former F1 driver Martin Brundle also made it onto the honours list this New Year and will be made an OBE.
Nobel Prize-winning author Sir Kazuo Ishiguro was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for his services to literature.
Actor Eddie Marsan has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Myleene Klass becomes a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Keely Hodgkinson will receive and MBE
(Image: Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Further on the sporting front are a host of Team GB athlete, including runner Keely Hodgkinson, who will receive an MBE. She was named the 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year after she claimed gold in the 800 metres at the Paris Olympics, successfully defended her European title, and set a new British record of one minute 54.61 seconds that made her the sixth fastest woman in history.
Paralympian Hannah Cockroft becomes a CBE after coming first in the T34 100m and 800m in the French capital. Team GB won 65 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, while Team Paralympics GB won 124 medals, including 49 gold medals, finishing in second place in the final medals table
Other honoured gold medallists include swimmer Duncan Scott (OBE), sailor Ellie Aldridge (MBE) and rowers Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott, Lauren Henry and Georgie Brayshaw (all MBE).
Meanwhile, Horizon IT scandal victims Lee Castleton, Jo Hamilton, Christopher Head and Seema Misra are made OBEs for services to justice. Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted of fraud, theft, and false accounting over more than a decade, leading to prison time, job losses and ruined reputations.
Political figures were recognised for their public service, including Labour MP Emily Thornberry, who becomes a dame, and former West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who becomes a knight.
The oldest person on the list is 103-year-old World War Two Mosquito pilot Colin Bell, awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for charitable fundraising and public speaking.
Former RAF navigator George Kelly, 101, is made an MBE for his services to the Royal British Legion (RBL) and RAF veterans, while 100-year-old Roy Gibson receives a BEM having been the first director general of the European Space Agency.
The youngest recipients, both 18, are Mikayla Beames, awarded a BEM for her fundraising efforts supporting children with cancer, and para-swimmer William Ellard, made an MBE after winning gold in the S14 200m freestyle at the Paris Paralympics.
Women make up 49% of those honoured, with 12% of recipients from ethnic minority backgrounds. The list also includes 3% identifying as LGBTQ+, 15% with disabilities or long-term health conditions and 33% from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities. They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this government does. The New Year Honours List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution.”
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