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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.

Post Office victims campaigner Alan Bates is also being honoured with a knighthood for his services to justice.

Former subpostmaster and lead campaigner Alan Bates arrives at Aldwych House
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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.

Gordon Brown speaking during Lead 2024, the advertising industry's annual summit
Pic: PA
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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.

EMBARGOED TO 2230 FRIDAY JUNE 14 File photo dated 26/06/22 of Mark Cavendish winning the 2022 British National Road Championships road race in Castle Douglas. He has been made a Knight Commander for services to cycling and to charity work, in the King's Birthday Honours list. Issue date: Thursday June 13, 2024.
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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.

Artist Tracey Emin sits by her work 'My Bed' which is on the market for the first time offered for sale at Christie's in  central London to benefit the Saatchi Gallery's foundation. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday June 27, 2014. See PA story SALE Emin. Photo credit should read: Nick Ansell/PA Wire
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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.

Designer Anya Hindmarch speaks to media during London Fashion Week in London, Britain February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
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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 dame for 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.

Actor Alex Jennings poses for photographers on arrival at the 2019 BAFTA Television Awards in London, Sunday, May 12, 2019.(Photo by Grant Pollard/Invision/AP)
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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.

Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran during the Platinum Party at the Palace staged in front of Buckingham Palace, London, on day three of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II. Picture date: Saturday June 4, 2022.
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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.

EDITORIAL USE ONLY Amy Dowden joins the panel of judges for this year's GoCardless JustGiving Awards gather to select the finalists ahead of the awards ceremony in September. Picture date: Wednesday May 15, 2024.
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Amy Dowden publicly shared her journey with breast cancer over the last year. Pic: PA

The dancer is one of the UK ambassadors for charity Crohn’s and Colitis and last year publicly shared her breast cancer journey and subsequent mastectomy.

Fellow Strictly Come Dancing star and former EastEnders actress Rose Ayling Ellis, 29, also receives an MBE for voluntary services to the deaf community.

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FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival, Britain - 10 Apr 2016
Susie Dent

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Susie Dent known for her knowledge of words. Pic: David Hartley/Shutterstock

EMBARGOED TO 2230 FRIDAY JUNE 14 File photo dated 13/09/21 of actor, writer and dancer Shobna Gulati who has been made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire), for services to the Cultural Industries, in the King's Birthday Honours list. Issue date: Friday June 14, 2024.
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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.

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Liz MITCHELL celebrates her 70th birthday on July 12, 2022, Boney M. feat. Liz MITCHELL,singer,vocal group,on stage.11/29/2006. Photo by: Frank Hoermann/SVEN SIMON/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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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.”

EMBARGOED TO 2230 FRIDAY JUNE 14 File photo dated 07/07/22 of Heather Small who has been made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for Voluntary and Charitable Services, in the King's Birthday Honours list. Issue date: Friday June 14, 2024.
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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.

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Paris Manga, France - 06 Feb 2016
Kiran Shah

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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).

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Paul Mescal says Saoirse Ronan ‘hit nail on the head’ with comment on women’s safety

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Paul Mescal says Saoirse Ronan 'hit nail on the head' with comment on women's safety

Paul Mescal praised fellow Irish star and friend Saoirse Ronan for speaking out about women’s safety in a TV talk show clip that went viral.

The two Oscar nominees appeared on The Graham Norton Show, where Eddie Redmayne was talking about how he trained for his role as a lone assassin in Sky Atlantic series The Day Of The Jackal, where he was taught how to use a mobile phone if attacked.

In response, Mescal, 28, joked: “Who is going to think about that though?”

He continued:: “If someone attacks me I’m not going to go [reaches into pocket] phone.”

But Ronan chimed in and said: “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?”

The clip quickly went viral on social media, with Ronan praised for holding the men to account.

Mescal was asked on Irish broadcaster RTE’s The Late Late Show if they were surprised by the reaction the clip had.

“I’m not surprised that the message received as much attention that it got, because it’s massively important and I’m sure you’ve had Saoirse on the show, like, she’s… quite often, more often than not, the most intelligent person in the room,” he replied.

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He said she was “spot on” and “hit the nail on the head”, adding it was good “messages like that are kind of gaining traction – that’s a conversation that we should absolutely be having on a daily basis”.

Ronan previously called the reaction to her comments “wild”.

Saoirse Ronan stars in The Outrun
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Saoirse Ronan was appearing on the show to promote her latest movie, The Outrun

She told The Ryan Tubridy Show on Virgin Radio UK: “It’s definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash.”

But she said men and women from around the world had reached out to her following the moment.

She said the men on the show “weren’t sort of like debunking anything that I was saying”, and explained Mescal “completely gets” the issue as they have talked about it before.

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Jon Kenny: Irish comedian who starred in Father Ted and Banshees of Inisherin dies aged 66

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Jon Kenny: Irish comedian who starred in Father Ted and Banshees of Inisherin dies aged 66

Jon Kenny, an Irish comedian and actor known for D’Unbelievables and roles on Father Ted, has died aged 66.

His wife Margie told local news outlet the Limerick Leader that the comedian had died on Friday evening in Galway Clinic.

In a statement to the newspaper, Kenny’s family said he had a cardiac arrest early on 10 November. They added the comedian “grabbed life and shook it as hard as he could getting every ounce of fun, madness and love from it”.

They also said: “His wit, humour, generosity and kindness will outlast his passing. The memories and stories of those who knew him will be his legend.”

Kenny was best known as half of the comedy duo with Pat Shortt called D’Unbelievables in the 1980s. He also made two guest appearances in Father Ted as Michael Cocheese and Fred Rickwood.

The comedian was reunited with Shortt in the 2022 film The Banshees of Inisherin, where both had small roles.

Paying tribute, Taoiseach Simon Harris called the Limerick actor a “gifted performer,” while Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald called him a “comedic genius”.

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In a post on social media, Mr Harris said: “Jon had the ability, that very few people possess, to make his audiences crack up laughing with a glance or a single word.

“Behind that seemingly effortless talent to joke, there was a gifted performer and an extremely deep thinker.”

The Taoiseach added he was in Limerick on Friday “when word of his death came through and to say he is beloved, is a huge understatement”.

Ms McDonald also said of Kenny: “Along with his compadre Pat Shortt – [he] connected with the unique humour and wit of the Irish people in a very special way.

“He leaves the best legacy – he made people laugh and smile. Jon Kenny will be deeply missed.”

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Fellow Irish comedian Dara O Briain said on social media Kenny “was a lovely, lovely man, and a comedy powerhouse”.

He said: “D’Unbeliveables opened the door to all the rest of us, doing epic tours and dragging the audience, sometimes bodily, into a mad world of their creation.

“A unique man, and will be missed.”

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Boy George on the price of fame – and his rocky relationship with Madonna

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Boy George on the price of fame – and his rocky relationship with Madonna

Boy George is contemplating his relationship with fame. Intoxicating, often inescapable, he says he has not always found his decades in the spotlight easy

There has been a cost, he says. Much has been well documented. But in recent years he has been able to enjoy it all much more.

And it’s not real. “Fame is a figment of other people’s imaginations. You’re only famous because other people believe you are.”

Boy George is touring with Culture Club again
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Boy George has created a new art collection, titled Fame

Most will know Boy George the avant garde musician, flamboyant frontman of Culture Club, one of the biggest music acts of the 1980s. Big hats, big songs, big personality. He has found new fans more recently through appearances on reality shows such as I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and as a judge on The Voice.

He is also an artist, and fame is the theme of his latest collection of portraits.

Vivid, bold, punk, they are exactly as you might expect. He has painted his hero David Bowie, fellow music icons Madonna and Prince, as well as a self-portrait.

Boy George has created a new art collection, titled Fame, featuring David Bowie, Madonna and Prince, as well as a self-portrait. Pic: Dave Parry/ PA
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The collection features images of David Bowie, Madonna and Prince, as well as a self-portrait. Pic: Dave Parry/ PA/ Castle Fine Art

“I think of Boy George from the ’80s as a sort of cartoon character,” he says. “Because on the one hand, there was this public persona, which was one thing, and it was very recognisable. And then there was me behind it… I used to have a real problem with [fame] and I feel now I’m like, it’s just a job.”

The portrait of his younger self is a reminder of how his relationship with fame has changed.

“I never really took it that seriously,” he says. “There were moments when I lost my mind – we all know what they were. But I always kind of knew who I was.”

‘I was really lucky to have my family’

Culture Club on stage performing in 1982. Pic: Ron Wolfson/ Rock Negatives/ MediaPunch Boy George/ IPX/ AP
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Culture Club on stage performing in 1982. Pic: Ron Wolfson/ Rock Negatives/ MediaPunch Boy George/ IPX/ AP


The star, whose real name is George O’Dowd, has spoken and written about his struggles with addiction in the past. In 2009, he was jailed for four months for false imprisonment.

In his last autobiography, he described it as a “stupid, aggressive and regrettable” incident that was over in “less than 30 seconds”. He disputes some of the details that came out in court, but called himself an “idiot who did too many drugs and made a massive mistake”.

George says his family helped him through the dark times. Despite there being more conversation than ever around mental health and the pressures on young stars today, he is not convinced the support is any better.

“I think in my case, I was really lucky to have my family… particularly my late mother. Whatever was going on, she was always there to kind of try and harness me into reality. And sometimes it took a bit of pulling and shoving, but I feel like my family have been so important to me in terms of, you know, keeping me sane. But it hasn’t always been an easy thing.”

The "Tokyo Pop" body suit with replica shoes, designed by Kansai Yamamoto from the "Aladdin Sane" tour are on display during the media preview of the "David Bowie is" exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, in New York. The exhibit opens to the public on March 2 and runs through July 15. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
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The Bowie portrait features the star in his famous Tokyo Pop body suit from the Aladdin Sane tour, designed by Kansai Yamamoto, pictured here during an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum in 2018. Pic: Mary Altaffer/ AP

Now in his 60s, as well as Boy George, he is plain old “George from Eltham”, southeast London; although plain is not really an adjective you would ascribe to him.

“As I’ve got older, I’ve kind of accepted I created this Boy George person, and I can either have as much fun with it as I can, or I can make it full of anxiety,” he says.

For his Fame collection, he chose Bowie because the artist “shaped my whole career, my whole childhood”. His relationship with Madonna, whom he has captured in her Madame X era from 2019 rather than one of her more famous earlier incarnations, “because artists continue to evolve”, is more complex.

They first met after he saw her in concert in New York, with fellow ’80s star Marilyn and two friends. They went backstage and he asked for a picture.

‘There’s never been warmth… on either side’

Madonna opens her first concert "Virgin Tour" at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Washington, April 11, 1985. (AP Photo/NewsBase)
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George first met Madonna during her The Virgin tour in the mid-1980s. Pic: AP/ NewsBase

“She grabbed the boys and just sat them on her lap, which is kind of major,” he says. “She took control immediately. And I’ve got this great picture of Madonna and this guy that I kind of lost contact with.”

But he and the Queen of Pop never became friends. “Over the years we sort of met each other, but there’s never been any kind of warmth necessarily on either side,” he says. “But I am a fan… with me, if I like the music, I don’t necessarily have to be best friends with the person… I can like things without being petty.”

It was perhaps part and parcel of fame in the 1980s, he says.

“When you’re young, everything’s a competition. As you get older, you get a bit more confident about who you are and more secure and therefore you’re able to enjoy things without feeling threatened. So I think in the ’80s, all of us were in competition with each other… nowadays I’m kind of able to enjoy a lot of bands that I hissed at in the past, you know.”

Boy George is touring with Culture Club again
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Culture Club are touring later in the year, along with Tony Hadley and Heaven 17

Earlier this year, George made his Broadway debut, performing in Moulin Rouge. Now, he is getting ready for gigs with Culture Club again, alongside Tony Hadley and Heaven 17.

They will play their first two albums, Kissing To Be Clever and Colour By Numbers, in full. “[It’s] one of the reasons I agreed to this tour,” he says. “I knew we wouldn’t argue about what we were playing.”

There is also a biopic in the works. George has long said he would like Game Of Thrones star Sophie Turner to play him and the campaign continues, he says. “In this day and age, why can’t have a woman playing a man? Why not break the rules? It’s kind of what I was doing 30, 40 years ago.”

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And he is still releasing solo music. His latest track, Let The Flowers Grow, is a collaboration with Bauhaus’ Peter Murphy.

“A lot of stuff I release, no one really hears of it unless they’re like a mad hardcore fan,” he says. “I’ve released 54 tracks in the last year, probably more than any other artist. And I will continue to keep putting stuff out and being creative because it feels like breathing, you know, it feels really enjoyable and I feel lucky that I get to do the thing I love.”

He takes a beat. “I mean that. I really enjoy it now in a way that I just didn’t know how to 10 years ago, 20 years ago, because I was so busy worrying about what other people thought about this, that and the other.

“Now I’m like, I want to tell people how I feel more. I mean, I’ve always done that, but I feel like, when you start to understand yourself more and realise what makes you actually happy, then you are able to express yourself in a better way.”

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