The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Medals for terror attack officer and Jo Cox hero
Scots comedian Billy Connolly receives a knighthood
The policeman killed after confronting the Westminster attacker outside Parliament and the heroic passer-by stabbed trying to protect MP Jo Cox have been awarded medals for their bravery.
Their recognition came as comedian Billy Connolly was given a knighthood and actress Julie Walters was made a dame in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Oscar-winner Olivia de Havilland, who turns 101 next month, is the oldest woman to become a dame in this centenary year of the modern-day honours system.
Those honoured from the world of entertainment include chart-topper Ed Sheeran and comedian David Walliams, with the honours committee describing the list as the most diverse yet.
In a break with tradition, the Queen’s Civilian Gallantry List has been released at the same time as the monarch’s birthday honours.
PC Keith Palmer – who was stabbed to death by attacker Khalid Masood in March on the forecourt of the Palace of Westminster – is posthumously awarded the George Medal for confronting an armed terrorist to protect others and Parliament.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said she and her colleagues were “immensely proud” of PC Palmer’s bravery.
Paying tribute, she said: “Keith acted that day with no thought for his own safety, intent simply on doing his job and protecting members of the public and Parliament. He paid the ultimate price for his selfless actions.”
Briton Dominic Troulan, who was working as a security consultant in Kenya when terrorists attacked a shopping mall in 2013, is awarded the George Cross for saving lives during the massacre.
Bernard Kenny – who was stabbed in the abdomen as he tried to stop neo-Nazi Thomas Mair attacking Mrs Cox outside her constituency surgery in Yorkshire – receives the George Medal one year on from the murder.
Two West Yorkshire Police officers, PC Craig Nicholls and PC Jonathan Wright, who arrested Mair, are awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.
The late politician’s senior caseworker, Sandra Major, who witnessed the killing, receives an MBE for parliamentary services and service to the community in Batley and Spen.
She is among more than 1,000 people recognised in the separate Queen’s Birthday Honours list, which is led by Sir Billy, Dame Julie and Dame Olivia.
Sir Billy – affectionately known as the Big Yin and famed for his irreverent stand-up routines – is knighted at the age of 74 in recognition of his services to entertainment and charity.
Bafta award winner Dame Julie, 67, and Gone With The Wind starlet Dame Olivia are both honoured for their services to drama.
Twenty years after he was knighted by the Queen, Sir Paul McCartney is upgraded with a Companion of Honour for services to music, alongside JK Rowling.
The author, who is also marking two decades since the publication of the first book in her best-selling Harry Potter series, is honoured for services to literature and philanthropy.
Founder of Virago publishing house Carmen Callil and veteran actor June Whitfield are made dames for services to literature and services to drama and entertainment, respectively.
Singer Emeli Sande receives an MBE for services to music.
Judy Murray, mother of tennis champion Andy, is given an OBE for services to tennis, women in sport and charity, alongside Walliams, who is recognised for services to charity and the arts.
Former SAS soldier and best-selling author Andy McNab receives a CBE for services to literacy and charity, while broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky is given an OBE for services to Holocaust commemoration.
Television presenter Gloria Hunniford, who lost her daughter Caron Keating to cancer, gets an OBE for services to cancer charities through breast screening services and cancer support.