The King’s Birthday Honours list has been published, with leading artist Tracey Emin, pop icon Simon Le Bon and stage and screen actress Imelda Staunton among those recognised.
Other well-known faces being given honours include Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden, singer Heather Small and actor Alex Jennings, with the highest award, Companion of Honour, being given to former prime minister Gordon Brown for services to public and charitable services both in the UK and abroad.
Image: Alan Bates arriving at the Post Office inquiry in April. Pic: PA
Mr Bates, who inspired ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, founded the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance and helped bring the Horizon IT scandal to light, while supporting the hundreds of sub-postmasters who were prosecuted for theft and false accounting, which turned out to be due to errors in the accounting software.
In total 1,000 people from across the UK have received honours, for the “immeasurable impact” they have had on the lives of people across the country, the Cabinet Office said.
Image: Gordon Brown said he felt ’embarrassed’ by the honour. Pic: PA
Former Labour leader Mr Brown said he felt “slightly embarrassed” about being made a Companion of Honour, which is limited to just 65 people at any one time, adding that he preferred to recognise “unsung, local heroes”.
Receiving a knighthood is Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish, 39, for services to cycling and to charity work.
The honour comes weeks after the cyclist achieved his 164th career victory, confirming him as one of the most successful men’s sprint cyclists of all time, the Isle of Man government – where Cavendish is from – said.
Image: Mark Cavendish will become a sir. Pic: PA
Historian Professor Niall Ferguson, 60, who first came to the attention of many in the UK with the hit 2003 Channel 4 series Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World, and a best-selling book of the same name, is also receiving a knighthood.
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Image: Artist Tracey Emin sits by her work ‘My Bed’. Pic: PA
British artist Emin, 60, and The Crown actress Staunton, 68, were given damehoods for services to art and drama and charity respectively.
Reacting to receiving the award, Emin, who is known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork, said: “Dame Tracey has a good ring to it. I’m very, very happy.” While Staunton said she felt “genuinely humbled” to be recognised.
Image: Designer and businesswoman Anya Hindmarch. Pic: Reuters
English designer Anya Hindmarch, 56, who is best known for creating clothes and accessories using logos of well-known brands including Pringles, Kelloggs and Sprite, was also made a damefor services to fashion and business.
Commander of the British Empire (CBEs) are the highest second class honour, bestowed to individuals for playing a leading role in regional affairs through achievement or service to the community, or for making a “highly distinguished, innovative contribution” in a particular activity.
Image: Actor Alex Jennings. Pic: AP
Scottish writer, director and performer Armando Iannucci, 60, is one of those receiving the honour for services to film and TV. The 60-year-old is best known for creating political sitcom The Thick Of It in 2005 and later HBO’s political satire Veep, for which he won two Emmy Awards.
Also gaining a CBE is actor Alex Jennings, 67 – best known for his portrayal of King Charles in 2006 film The Queen alongside Helen Mirren and more recently as Conservative MP James Arbuthnot in Mr Bates Vs The Post Office –for services to drama.
Image: Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran performing in 2022. Pic: PA
Meanwhile, lead vocalist and lyricist of new wave band Duran Duran, Simon Le Bon, 65, gets a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music and charity.
As does Amy Dowden, 33, best known for being one of the professional dancers on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. She was honoured for her services to fundraising and raising awareness of inflammatory bowel disease having being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was 19.
Image: Amy Dowden publicly shared her journey with breast cancer over the last year. Pic: PA
Fellow Strictly Come Dancing star and former EastEnders actress Rose Ayling Ellis, 29, also receives an MBE for voluntary services to the deaf community.
Image: Susie Dent known for her knowledge of words. Pic: David Hartley/Shutterstock
Image: Shobna Gulati. Pic: PA
MBEs mark outstanding achievement or service in and to the community which has delivered “sustained and real impact” and is as an example to others.
Also earning the honour is Countdown’s Susie Dent, 59,for services to literature and language and former Coronation Street and Dinner Ladies actress Shobna Gulati, 57, for services to cultural industries.
Image: Liz Mitchell is an original member of the band Boney M. Pic: AP
Liz Mitchell, the original lead singer of disco group Boney M is another MBE recipient. She is listed under her full name Elizabeth Rebecca Pemberton-Mitchell.
The 71-year-old, whose late father Norman Mitchell, also gained the honour in 2014 for his charitable work, said she “could not believe it” when she was told.
She said: “Everything is so raw with me because my dad just passed and the MBE was so important to him.”
Image: Heather Small undoubtedly ‘proud’ of her MBE. Pic: PA
Proud singer Heather Small, 59,also gains an MBE for voluntary and charitable services. The 59-year-old actively supports several charities including Action Breaks Silence, which aims to protect women and girls from all forms of male violence.
Former X Factor contestant Rebecca Ferguson is also being honoured with an MBE for services to the music industry. The 37-year-old came second on the singing contest in 2010 and has since campaigned for the introduction of a regulatory body for the music industry, in a bid to ensure artist welfare.
Image: Kiran Shah known for his stunt work on The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit films. Pic: Isa Harsin/Sipa/Shutterstock
British actor and stuntman Kiran Shah, 67, best known for his stunt work on The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit film series, has gained an MBE for services to the film industry.
Others honoured from the sporting world include ex-cyclist Chris Boardman and former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness who were given CBEs, while former England footballer Karen Carney was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
British Airways (BA) has paused its sponsorship of The Louis Theroux Podcast following an interview with Bob Vylan’s frontman.
Pascal Robinson-Foster, one half of the controversial punk duo, told Theroux in an episode which aired earlier this week that he was “not regretful” of chanting “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]” at this year’s Glastonbury.
British Airways said on Saturday that the content “breaches” its sponsorship policy and has since paused its advertising on the podcast, the Jewish News first reported.
An airline spokesperson said: “Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed.
“We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters.
“We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur and we’re investigating how this happened.”
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Image: Bobby Vylan crowd surfs during his performance at Glastonbury Festival. Pic: PA
Following Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, the band were dropped by a number of festivals and performances including Radar festival, a show at a German music venue and their US tour after their visas were revoked.
The comments were condemned by the US as a “hateful tirade” and “appalling hate speech” by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The band have also had to reschedule dates of its upcoming We Won’t Go Quietly UK tour in Manchesterand Leeds after Jewish leaders and politicians called for the show to be postponed.
Image: Theroux has not commented on BA pausing its sponsorship of his podcast. Pic: AP
In a statement on Facebook, the group said: “Due to political pressure from the likes of Bridget Phillipson and groups in the Northwest of England we have had to reschedule our Leeds and Manchester shows.
“All tickets remain valid and all other shows are continuing as planned.”
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Calls for Bob Vylan concert to be cancelled
When asked by Theroux, Vylan said he was taken aback by the uproar the chant has caused, saying: “It wasn’t like we came off stage, and everybody was like [gasps]. It’s just normal.”
He added that he wanted an end to “the oppression that Palestinian people are facing”.
Despite the criticism, the group have seen support from fans, with their album Humble As The Sun re-entering the charts and climbing to number one in the UK Hip Hop and R&B album category.
A spokesperson at Mindhouse Productions – which was founded by Theroux and produces The Louis Theroux Podcast – has not commented on the BA sponsorship, but told Sky News: “Louis is a journalist with a long history of speaking to controversial figures who may divide opinion.
“We would suggest people watch or listen to the interview in its entirety to get the full context of the conversation.”
It is “pretty surreal”, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon admits, finding herself at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.
When I meet the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling author Harlan Coben, overnight the pair have learned that their thriller is now at number one.
He jokes: “I was texting her last night and saying you’ll now have to call yourself number one bestselling novelist, forget about Oscar winner!”
Image: Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye
As one of the most successful authors in the world, Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground.
Not content with running a hugely successful production company responsible for a string of hits, as well as one of the most successful book clubs in the world, she explains she felt compelled to give writing a try.
“People want you to stay in your lane… as a creative person I think it’s impossible to just choose one kind of life.
“Creativity is infinite and who I was as a creative person when I was 20 is very different from the person I am now at 49.”
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Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller about a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy, is the result of Witherspoon daring to put her head above the parapet.
Image: Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try
Coben admits he was “a little wary” at first.
“I don’t co-write novels but when she made the pitch and started talking about it, I was like ‘dang that’s good, we can do something with that’.”
While countless celebrities work with ghostwriters, Coben says: “I said to her from day one ‘it’s only going to be you and me in here… no third person in here, I don’t do that’. So every word you [read] comes from Reese and me.”
Image: Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground
Witherspoon explains: “He was like ‘if we’re going to do this, it’s going to have to be at a really high level because people going to expect a lot, so our bar was really high.”
“I said to her, in the beginning, novels are like a sausage,” Coben laughs. “You might like the final taste, but you don’t want to see how it was made and Reese got to see the full sausage getting made here.”
When it came to writing, Coben says they “fell into a rhythm right away”, working together in three-hour stints, “back and forth with a yellow legal pad – what about this? What about that?”
Image: Coben says they ‘fell into a rhythm right away’
Witherspoon says it “feels really deeply personal” to have their work now in print.
“Usually, as an actor, I walk into other people’s worlds and it’s already set up… but this was creating the whole world with Harlan and just from beginning to end feels very personal.”
While the story seems an obvious fit for being adapted to the screen, perhaps with a certain blonde actress in the leading role, Coben says that was never their intention.
“The biggest, biggest mistake novelists make when you write a book is to say ‘this would make a really great movie’. A book is a book, a movie is a movie, and we both focused on wanting this to be just a great reading experience.”
Given that their collaboration is already selling in big numbers, will the pair team up again to write a second?
Witherspoon says: “Let’s just see what people think of this one first.”