Fashion designer Stella McCartney, TV presenter Clare Balding and Welsh footballer Gareth Bale have been awarded British honours as part of Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee honours list.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the honours list unveiled on Wednesday was intended to reflect the personal qualities of the queen as she marks 70 years on the throne.
“The honours she confers this week reflect many of those qualities,” Mr Johnson said. “I pay tribute to all of this year’s winners. Their stories of courage and compassion are an inspiration to us all.”
The 1,134 awards celebrating public and community service included honours for a 104-year-old dance teacher and two 11-year-old twins who raised money for the National Health Service.
Author Salman Rushdie and illustrator Quentin Blake were admitted to the elite fold of Companions of Honour, of whom there are only 65 at any time.
There was a knighthood for crime author Ian Rankin, a CBE for actor Damian Lewis and OBEs for cricketer Moeen Ali and retired footballer Rio Ferdinand.
The queen, 96, is the first British monarch to reign for 70 years. The government said there was a particular emphasis on long public service, the environment, sustainability and youth engagement on the platinum jubilee awards.
Women made up 52 per cent of honours recipients, a record. The proportion of award recipients from ethnic minority backgrounds was 13 per cent, down slightly on last year's birthday honours list.
Balding, honoured with a CBE for services to sport and charity, said it was “overwhelming to be recognised for doing things I enjoy so much”.
“I love being given the opportunity to broadcast sporting events and to talk about the positive impact of sport,” she said.
Ali said his OBE had made his family proud and happy, while Blake, known for his illustrations of Roald Dahl's books, said it was an “enormous privilege” to become one of the Companions of Honour.
McCartney, who received a CBE, designed the reception dress for Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, to wear after her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. She was also behind the uniforms of British athletes at the London 2012 Olympics.
Bale, who donated to hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic, received an MBE for services to football and charity.
Liverpool player James Milner received the same award for “the great work his foundation undertakes” to promote sport for young people, the government said.
Also knighted was Nicholas Coleridge, one of the organisers of a three-kilometre central London pageant on Sunday, which is one of the centrepieces of the jubilee celebrations.
In politics, Northern Ireland's former first minister Arlene Foster received a damehood while Conservative MP Jeremy Wright was knighted — days after calling for Mr Johnson to resign over the partygate scandal.
His fellow Tory MP Tracey Crouch received a CBE for her work on football governance while opposition Labour MPs Stephen Timms and Nia Griffith were made a knight and dame.
“This is the platinum jubilee year and Her Majesty, the Queen has given so much devotion and service to the country, so to receive it in her platinum jubilee year is really special for me,” Ms Foster said.
There was a second successive honour for the family of former prime minister Tony Blair, who was knighted at the New Year. His son Euan was named an MBE for services to education in his role as founder of Multiverse, which provides apprenticeship programmes.
Researchers Prof James Durrant, Prof John Barrett and Dr Richard Tippier were honoured for their work on energy and climate change.
There were knighthoods for NHS medical director Prof Stephen Powis and AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot, reflecting their efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.
Angela Redgrave, 104, the oldest recipient on the list, and twins Elena and Ruben Evans-Guillen, 11, the youngest, received British Empire Medals.
A government spokeswoman told a briefing on Tuesday that each of the selection committees was asked, in particular, to consider the themes of the jubilee, “looking at youth engagement, environment and sustainability and sustained public service”.
“So, those were considered alongside all of the things usually looked at — service to others, sustained commitment. But we have sought, particularly, to consider and promote cases which exemplify those themes, which are the themes across the entirety of the jubilee.”
