Queen honours 'invaluable' qualities

Famous faces in showbiz, sport and politics have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, with recipients this year said to reflect the monarch's "invaluable" qualities before her Platinum Jubilee.

Those behind the selection process said there was more consideration for people who have represented themes such as youth engagement, the environment and sustained public service to mark the monarch's milestone.

There are top honours for English-Indian author Salman Rushdie and illustrator Quentin Blake, who are made Companions of Honour for services to literature and illustration respectively.

There are top honours for author Salman Rushdie, who spent years living under a death threat from Iran over his novel The Satanic Verses, and Quentin Blake, illustrator of children's classics by Roald Dahl, who were made a Companion of Honour, an award limited to 65 people of distinction.

"It was with great surprise and delight that I learned of this extraordinary honour. It's a privilege to be included in such illustrious company, both past and present," Rushdie said.

Elsewhere in showbiz, Homeland actor Damian Lewis, presenter Clare Balding and fashion designer Stella McCartney are made Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBEs.

Lewis, 51, was recognised for services to drama and charity. He and his wife, actress Helen McCrory, raised money for a charity providing meals to healthcare workers during COVID-19 lockdowns. McCrory died of cancer last year aged 52.

Total Eclipse of the Heart singer Bonnie Tyler was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE.

The star from Swansea, Wales, who is known for her distinctively husky voice and hits including Total Eclipse of the Heart, has had a career spanning five decades.

"I'm just a girl from a small town in Wales who just loves to sing, so to be recognised for that in this way is very significant to me and my family and friends," said Tyler, 70.

Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus novels and winner of several national and international awards, is knighted for services to literature and charity.

Also knighted is Nicholas Coleridge, chairman of the V&A Museum and co-chair of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, which on Sunday will see a carnival procession through central London featuring a cast of thousands.

In sports, awards include an MBE for former Tottenham Hotspur soccer star Gareth Bale, and ex-Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand, cricketer Moeen Ali and Eve Muirhead of Britain's Olympic gold-winning women's curling team, are awared the Order of the British Empire, or OBE.

And a sugar-loving nation bestowed a knighthood on Jim Walker, whose family business makes Walker's Shortbread, a buttery Scottish biscuit sold around the world.

The list included knighthoods or damehoods for key players in Britain's response to the coronavirus pandemic, including National Health Service Medical Director Stephen Powis, England's Chief Nursing Officer Ruth May, University of Edinburgh vaccine researcher Aziz Sheikh and Pascal Soriot, chief executive of vaccine-maker AstraZeneca.

Organisers of last year's COP26 climate conference in Glasgow also were on the list.

Also recognised were several officials who worked to get some 15,000 British nationals and Afghans out of Kabul when the city fell to the Taliban last year.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Queen's Platinum Jubilee "is not only a celebration of the monarch but of the qualities she possesses".

"The honours she confers this week reflect many of those qualities that have been invaluable from all different walks of life and to communities across the UK."

PA with AP