Bravery leads honours
Posthumous award for cop who made ‘ultimate sacrifice’.
The police officer fatally stabbed by Khalid Masood in March’s Westminster attack has been awarded a posthumous bravery medal by the Queen.
The George Medal citation for PC Keith Palmer, right, says the actions of the 48-year-old “provided time for officers to react and shoot and stop the assailant”. It said his bravery and professionalism unquestionably saved lives and “in doing so he made the ultimate sacrifice.” The George Medal also went to 78-yearold Bernard Kenny, who went to the aid of MP Jo Cox who was murdered outside her electoral office in West Yorkshire a year ago. Constables Craig Nicholls and Jonathan Wright, who arrested the killer, were awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal, while Sandra Major, who witnessed Cox being shot, was awarded an MBE for parliamentary services and service to the community. Tourists Allen Pembroke and Paul Short received the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery for helping the wounded after a gunman opened fire on a beach in Tunisia in 2015, killing 38 visitors, 30 of them British. In a break with tradition, the Queen’s Civilian Gallantry List was released along with the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, in which Scottish comedian Billy Connolly is knighted and actress Julie Walters, below, becomes a dame.
Sir Billy, 74, said he was “pleased and a little embarrassed” to become a knight for services to entertainment and charity. TV star June Whitfield, mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly and Gone with the Wind actress Olivia de Havilland, who turns 101 next month, are also new dames.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, musician Sir Paul McCartney, television cook Delia Smith and designer Sir Terence Conran are among nine new members of the prestigious Order of the Companion of Honour.
There are OBEs for comedian David Walliams and actresses Sarah Lancashire and Patricia Hodge. Pop stars Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sande and 60s singer Sandie Shaw are among the MBEs.
Half of the 1109 recipients are female, 6.5 per cent have a disability, 75 per cent undertake work in their communities, and 10 per cent are from minority ethnic backgrounds.