Paul McCartney, J K Rowling top UK honours list

Former Beatle Paul McCartney and Harry Potter author J K Rowling led those named to the UK’s honours list awarded to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday.

Both are made Companions of Honour, a 100-yearold award limited to 65 members at any one time, along with designer Terence Conran, cookbook writer and TV presenter Delia Smith and Nicholas Stern, former World Bank chief economist and author of a widely-cited report into the economics of climate change.

The list, officially published Saturday, recognises “extraordinary people” from across the UK and is the “most diverse since the Order of the British Empire was started in 1917,” Mary Marsh, a member of the honours committee, said at a briefing in London’s Kensington Palace. Of the 1,109 people receiving awards, 554 are women and 10 per cent are from ethnic minorities.

Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik is knighted for his charity work, as is Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. Jonathan Faull, who led the European Commission’s illfated task force to stop Brexit, also becomes a knight.