This year’s prestigious list of people receiving important accolades for the Queen’s birthday honours has been announced.
Here is a list of the most prominent celebrities who’ll be receiving an award.
1. Lenny Henry – Knighthood – For services to drama and charity.
Lenny’s knighthood is the least surprising news on the honours list, after reports of the award leaked out and he himself went on national radio to confirm it ahead of the official announcement. The comedian and actor, a mainstay of Comic Relief for many years, said it was a “wonderful thing”.
He said: “My family are absolutely chuffed and my friends have not stopped congratulating me. I’d like to thank everyone for being so generous and so kind. It is an extraordinary thing and I am absolutely thrilled.
“This is not just for me, this is for everyone who has done something for Comic Relief, every person who has helped us raise £1 billion and for everyone who works at Comic Relief, this is for you too.”
2. Eddie Redmayne – OBE – For services to drama.
Eddie’s meteoric rise is showing no signs of slowing down as he is awarded an OBE for services to drama.
His performance and portrayal of Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything earned him the ultimate acting accolade as he beat the likes of fellow British star Benedict Cumberbatch to win the best actor Oscar this year.
It is hard to believe that just three years ago the 33-year-old was being nominated for the Bafta Rising Star Award, which he did not win. Today that loss may be a distant memory in his movie history as he now has an impressive array of awards including a Bafta, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award.
3. Van Morrison – Knighthood – For services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland.
The news that Van Morrison has joined the ranks of rock knights will delight his millions of fans.
It is another highpoint in a career that has taken him from the back rooms of Belfast’s pubs to the world’s biggest arenas, winning him critical acclaim along the way.
His unique style – a meshing of blues, country, soul and folk – is a product of his home town and the music he grew up with.
4. Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch – CBE – For services to the performing arts and to charity.
The announcement that Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has been made a CBE will go some way to make up for his disappointment at losing out on the best actor Oscar this year.
The award, for services to the performing arts and charity, is another milestone in an eventful year that has seen him reach new heights in his career, get married and announce the imminent arrival of his first child.
Benedict’s early career was steadily successful with roles in weighty dramas such as To The Ends Of The Earth and Small Island, but his life changed forever when he picked up the deerstalker and signed on to play master sleuth Sherlock Holmes in the BBC’s updated take on the classic crime stories.
5. Chiwetel Ejiofor – already has an OBE and is being awarded a CBE – For services to drama.
Chiwetel Ejiofor can add another accolade to his list after being awarded a CBE for services to drama.
The 37-year-old is already the holder of an OBE, which he was awarded in 2008. This latest honour caps a remarkable rise that began with a London schoolboy reciting Shakespeare to himself in his bedroom.
6. Dr Loyd Grossman – already has an OBE and is being awarded a CBE – For services to heritage.
He said:”I was thrilled because it was this great recognition for doing something I love to do. I haven’t told a single person so it will be a great thrill for my family and friends when they find out.”
7. Michael Ball – OBE – For services to musical theatre.
Actor and singer Michael Ball has revealed his 80-year-old father Tony burst into tears on hearing the news that his son was being awarded an OBE for services to musical theatre.
“It came out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting it and I don’t know what to say,” he said.
“I love these things. For people in our business, it’s all we want is for people to say ‘you are lovely’.”
Michael also revealed he is a “proper royalist” and said of the Queen: “I think she’s amazing.”
8. Patti Boulaye – OBE – For charitable services in the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Singer Patti Boulaye has revealed she found out she was being awarded an OBE for charitable services in the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa on her birthday.
She said: “I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it’s happened. It’s incredible and makes me so grateful. I’m a believer in whatever gift we receive, we are supposed to share and use it to help others. I’m hoping and praying it’s just the next stage to some of the work I do.”
9. Alexander Martin Clunes – OBE – For services to drama, charity and to the community in Dorset.
The actor, who shot to fame as one half of the laddish duo in Men Behaving Badly, has played roles including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in a recent ITV series and presented travel documentaries.
Born in London, he – like his character Doc Martin – now calls the West Country his home and lives with his family on a farm in Dorset where he supports several local causes including the county’s chamber orchestra.
Speaking about the award, he said: “It’s very exciting and I’m tremendously proud.”
10. Nicky Campbell – OBE – For services to children.
Broadcaster Nicky Campbell has said he is “supremely proud” at being given an OBE for services to children.
Nicky, a regular on TV and radio for years, has spoken openly about his experience of being adopted and is a patron of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF).
He said: “I am genuinely flabbergasted and if I have in any small way helped raise the profile of adoption and fostering then I’m supremely proud.”
11. Lesley Manville – OBE – For services to drama.
A favourite of director Mike Leigh, Lesley has starred with great success in numerous of his high profile projects, including All or Nothing and Another Year, which earned her a Bafta nomination.
She cut her teeth in the world of television with a Blue Peter presenting job and a stint on Emmerdale.
Since then her TV repertoire is as long as the Honours list, boasting impressive credits for shows like Coronation Street, Silent Witness and Other People’s Children.
12. Steven Moffat – OBE – For services to drama.
Steven, the driving force behind hit TV shows Sherlock and Doctor Who, said he was “just really, really happy” to get an OBE for services to drama.
He said: “I never thought I would get something like this. I’m astonished and more thrilled than I ever thought someone like me would be. I’m not the least bit cynical, or the least bit trying to be cool about it. I’m just really, really happy.”
His journey to the television studio started in the classroom when the then teacher came up with an idea for a show about a school newspaper.
13. Michael Bond – CBE – The Paddington author is being honoured for services to children’s literature.
Paddington Bear may be getting a trip to Buckingham Palace to see his creator collect his CBE.
Michael Bond, 89, joked he may take the much-loved children’s character along, provided the bear does not try to sneak in a marmalade sandwich under his hat.
Michael, who has been awarded a CBE for services to children’s literature to add to the OBE he received in July 1997, said: “I think it (the award) will be good for children’s books as a whole.”
“I am delighted but I do think that my pleasure is mostly directed at Paddington getting it because he is a very real person to me.”
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