...Dame Imelda Staunton! Well-deserved - she's been treading the boards and on our screens for so many years, and in so many roles - "Dolores Umbridge" in Harry Potter, "Mama Rose" in Gypsy, "Mrs Lovett" in Sweeney Todd, "Sally" in Follies, "Lady Bagshaw" in the Downton Abbey film, "Miss Adelaide" in Guys and Dolls, and HM The Queen in The Crown; she also starred in Vera Drake, Peter's Friends, Bright Young Things, My Family and Other Animals, Pride, Sense and Sensibility, Cranford and Midsomer Murders, provided voiceovers for Chicken Run, Paddington and Doctor Who - and much, much more...
A true national treasure. We adore her - and will be seeing her on stage again in Hello Dolly! later this year.
Also honoured: artist Dame Tracey Emin, fashion accessories designer and businesswoman Dame Anya Hindmarch; Sir Alan Bates [the campaigner for justice against the Post Office], historian Professor Sir Niall Ferguson, Royal Ballet choreographer Sir Wayne McGregor, composer Sir John Rutter; Companion of Honour (former PM) Gordon Brown.
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE): writer Monica Ali, satirist, TV producer and writer Armando Iannucci, actor Alex Jennings, Welsh broadcaster Roy Noble, former footballer and fundraiser Graeme Souness, television executive and presenter Alan Yentob; Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE): former TV journalist and correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, former footballer and TV pundit Ally McCoist, and one of my former Scope colleagues and charity executive Ruth Marvel; Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE): Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, Alternative Miss World founder and designer Andrew Logan, stalwart of "Dictionary Corner" on Countdown for 30 years Susie Dent, Dinnerladies and Corrie actress Shobna Gulati, broadcaster Nick Owen and Heather Small of M People.
Congratulations, all!
King's Birthday Honours list 2024
