Dame Anna Wintour and author Ian McEwan lead first Birthday Honours of King Charles’s reign

By William On Jun 16, 2023

Vogue editor Dame Anna Wintour and author Ian McEwan are leading the first anniversary honors of King Charles’ reign today.

The fashion editor and award-winning novelist have received top honors in an honors roll that celebrates art, volunteerism and community service.

Author Martin Amis, who died of cancer last month at age 73, was knighted. Former hostage and author Terry Waite, film director Stephen Frears and Nigerian-born poet and novelist Ben Okri were also knighted.

Several celebrities honored have been praised for their campaigning and charity work, including television presenter Davina McCall, Line of Duty star Vicky McClure and former BBC Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce.

Dame Anna, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, and Mr. McEwan, winner of the Booker Prize, were made Companions of Honour, along with Professor Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, who was at the center of the UK response to Covid including vaccine rollout and national testing programme.

American Vogue Editor-in-Chief Dame Anna Wintour was named a Companion of Honor. She is pictured at the Met Gala in New York, May 2, 2022

Ian McEwan Named a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, for services to literature

The Companion of Honor is awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to national life. There are only 65 Companions of Honor. Current holders include Sir David Attenborough and Salman Rushdie.

Charles’ gift to the royal baby doctor

A doctor who helped deliver the three children of the Prince and Princess of Wales has received a prestigious award.

ALAN FARTHING, a surgeon-gynecologist to the royal family, was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (RVO) – a personal honor bestowed by the King on those who have served the monarch and the royal family.

Mr Farthing, who was engaged to BBC presenter Jill Dando when she was shot dead in 1999, was part of the medical team assisting Kate when she gave birth to Prince George in 2013, Princess Charlotte in 2015 and Prince Louis in 2018.

The King’s RVO awards also include a Royal Victorian Medal for the late Queen’s former milliner, STELLA McLAREN. And ex-Labour cabinet minister Lord BOATENG, a former trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, was appointed Commander of the RVO.

McEwan, 74, whose novels include Atonement and On Chesil Beach, said the honor was “a complete surprise,” adding, “I think it amounts to a really good review.”

Senior awards were also awarded to Sir Simon Gass, Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, who advises the Prime Minister on intelligence and was made a Knight Grand Cross, and Richard Moore, Head of MI6, who was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and Saint George.

Geoff Knupfer, a forensic scientist who helped search for the victims of Moorish killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley and those who ‘disappeared’ during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St -Joris .

Martin Amis’s knighthood was discussed with him and he accepted the honor several weeks before his death. His father, novelist Kingsley Amis, was also knighted in 1990. Only honors of gallantry are awarded posthumously, so Sir Martin’s knighthood was dated a day before his death.

There were also knighthoods for former BBC director general Mark Thompson, Sky’s executive chairman Jeremy Darroch, and theater producer Rupert Gavin, former chairman of Historic Royal Palaces. Kathryn McDowell, general manager of the London Symphony Orchestra, was given a damehood.

Actress Celia Imrie, who starred in the Bridget Jones films and Calendar Girls, was awarded a CBE, along with Scottish actor Kenneth Cranham, who starred in the ITV series Shine On Harvey Moon.

Line Of Duty actress Vicky McClure received an MBE for services to drama and charity following her dementia campaign.

Davina McCall became an MBE after a 20-year television career. She is pictured during the launch photocall for the Masked Dancer, August 30, 2022

Vicky McClure received an MBE for services to drama and charity following her dementia campaign. She is pictured at the Brit Awards, February 8, 2022

Davina McCall also received an MBE after a 20-year television career in which she presented Big Brother, a documentary and books about menopause. She said, ‘I can’t believe it. It really means a lot.’

Veteran broadcaster Ken Bruce received an MBE for services to radio, autism awareness and charity. His 2009 autobiography describes his experience raising his autistic son Murray, who is nonverbal, with his wife Kerith. He said: ‘This is a great surprise and a privilege. I hope it helps to highlight the many difficulties autistic people face.”

In sport, there were CBEs for former Rangers footballer and manager John Greig, and Sarah Hunter, England Women’s Rugby Union captain. Ian Wright, former England and Arsenal footballer turned pundit, was awarded an OBE for services to football and charity.

More than half of the awards went to those involved in charitable and community service.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said: ‘Our honors system has long been a way of recognizing people who make incredible contributions to life in Britain and beyond. I pay tribute to all recognized.’

From 18 to 106, the local heroes who inspired us

More than 600 community and charitable heroes are being honored today in a list that reflects the coronation’s volunteer themes.

They include retired music teacher and composer Paul Harvey, whose hit single raised more than £1.5 million for dementia charities by the age of 80, after he was diagnosed with dementia. He gets an OBE.

Mr Harvey’s piano composition, Four Notes, went viral after being featured on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House in 2020. It was subsequently released as a single, featuring Mr Harvey along with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

The youngest recipient is 18-year-old Junior Jay Frood from Merseyside, whose anti-bullying campaign began after being verbally and physically bullied from the age of six for his love of dancing.

Now a successful dancer who has appeared on the West End stage and alongside stars such as Justin Bieber and Little Mix, Junior created the #BoysCanDance social media movement to support other young male dancers. He receives a British Empire Medal for his work.

Junior said he hoped his “crazy honor” would inspire others to follow their dreams, adding, “It shows that my voice is being heard and the bullies haven’t held me back.”

The oldest recipient is Joan Willett, 106, who will receive a British Empire Medal for raising more than £60,000 for the British Heart Foundation after surviving two heart attacks. She walked more than 17 miles up and down a hill outside her care home in Hastings, East Sussex after being inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore.

Other community awards recognized the response to the war in Ukraine, including an MBE for Alice Good, who founded Sunflower Sisters, a support group for families fleeing the country.

Ms Good, 55, from Northumberland, said she was inspired to help after seeing a photo of a mother with a child the same age as her six-year-old daughter Molly. The group has helped about 14,000 Ukrainians get to the UK. She also drove to Odessa to provide assistance.

There was also an MBE for Suzanne Richards, whose 19-year-old son Joel, her father Patrick and her brother Adrian were all killed in the 2015 Tunisia beach shootings.

Ms Richards, 54, from Wednesbury in the West Midlands, set up a charity, Smile For Joel, to support other families affected by terrorism and murder. She said the award was bittersweet, adding, “It’s lovely, but … I’d change it all if I could and get them back.”