New Year Honours 2024: All the celebrities being honoured, from Shirley Bassey to Paul Hollywood

Jilly Cooper, Michael Eavis and Ridley Scott are also among those honoured

Isobel Lewis
Saturday 30 December 2023 08:12
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Emilia Clarke says 'quite a bit' of brain missing after suffering two strokes

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, baker Paul Hollywood and Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis are among the stars of the entertainment industry to be recognised in the new year honours list.

Also among the musicians, authors and filmmakers to be honoured are Jilly Cooper, Kate Mosse and Shirley Bassey.

Bassey, who has sold more than 135 million records, has been made a Companion of Honour for her services to music. She becomes the 64th living member of the order, which can only have 65 members at any one time.

Bassey, who was born and grew up in Tiger Bay in Cardiff, said: “My heart is full of emotion and I am truly humbled.”

Director and producer Ridley Scott, whose works include Gladiator, Alien and Napoleon, has been made a Knight Grand Cross, upgrading his previous knighthood. Author Jilly Cooper has become a dame.

Cooper said: “I am absolutely and incredibly bowled over. I cannot believe I am a DBE, which in my case also stands for delighted, bewildered and ecstatic.”

Other notable names on the list include singer Leona Lewis, who becomes an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and author Mosse, who is made a CBE.

Emilia Clarke has been made an MBE

Elsewhere, actor Clarke has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) alongside her mother Jenny. The pair are co-founders of SameYou, a brain injury recovery charity they established after the star of stage and screen survived two brain haemorrhages.

Clarke described the honour as “remarkable”, saying it was “life-enhancing and magical” to see her mother, who has also had surgery to remove a brain aneurysm, recognised for her work as well.

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Other showbiz names to be honoured include radio presenter Tony Blackburn, who is made an OBE, while his fellow DJ Steve Wright, sports broadcasters Jeff Stelling and Hazel Irvine, and The Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood are made MBEs.

Michael Eavis has been knighted for services to music and charity

Glastonbury founder Mr Eavis is knighted for services to music and charity. The event organiser said he was looking forward to his investiture, and joked: “I think [Prince] William might do the ceremony. He’s made a few mentions of wanting to come to the festival, so I’ll probably take a couple of tickets in my pocket!”

Mosse, a novelist and co-founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, has been made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to literature, women and charity.

She said: “It does feel that although, obviously, this is for me, it’s very much an acknowledgement of the importance of the Women’s Prize, and that it matters that women support other women.”

Shirley Bassey has been made a Companion of Honour

This year’s list includes a total of 1,227 recipients, 48 per cent of whom are women, while 13.8 per cent have an ethnic minority background.

Speaking about the honours, prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “The new year’s honours list recognises the exceptional achievements of people across the country and those who have shown the highest commitment to selflessness and compassion.

“To all honourees, you are the pride of this country and an inspiration to us all.”

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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