Damian CBE and glittering stars who put others first
‘Going straight on the mantelpiece’
‘Something akin to a fairytale’
ACTOR Damian Lewis was awarded a CBE yesterday for the £1.5million campaign he launched with his wife Helen McCrory.
The Homeland star, 51, was one of a string of celebrities and sports stars honoured for charity work in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
During the Covid lockdowns, he and his wife founded Feed NHS, a campaign to give food from High Street chains to frontline workers.
Tragically Mr Lewis’s wife Helen, an actress best known for her roles in Peaky Blinders and the Harry Potter films, died in April last year, aged 52, following a battle with breast cancer.
Other stars included Coronation Street actor Antony Cotton, who plays Sean Tully in the ITV soap, who was awarded an MBE.
The 46-year-old began supporting Army veterans after a close friend returned from Afghanistan and needed support. He said: ‘I feel it is my duty, and it has genuinely become my life’s work.’
Footballers Rio Ferdinand (OBE), Gareth Bale (MBE) and James Milner (MBE) all received gongs for charity work alongside their sporting achievements, as did snooker stars Mark Selby and Judd Trump (both MBE).
Crime writer and Rebus creator Ian Rankin received the highest honour among this year’s showbusiness recipients, and becomes Sir Ian. The author, 62, who has sold more than 20million books, has donated around £1million to his charitable trust over the past five years.
He said: ‘I’m not sure what Detective Inspector John Rebus would make of it – he’d almost certainly tell me not to get too big-headed.’
Nicholas Coleridge, chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and co-chairman of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, and classical pianist Stephen Hough were also given knighthoods.
Broadcaster Clare Balding, 51, said she was ‘so surprised and truly thrilled’ to be awarded a CBE for her services to sport and charity. The TV and radio presenter said she believed her honour was ‘a reflection of how much people care about sport’.
Fashion designer Stella McCartney, the daughter of Sir Paul McCartney, also received a CBE, as did Rupert Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth Murdoch, for her work for Arts Council England.
Author Joanne Harris, who wrote the novel Chocolat, Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward and Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas all received OBEs. Miss Thomas said her OBE would go ‘straight on the mantelpiece’ in Nonnatus House, the fictional convent in the hit BBC series.
Coronation Street stalwart Helen Worth, 71, who has played Gail Platt for almost 48 years, was also made an MBE. She said: ‘To be honoured for doing something I have enjoyed so much for so many years is truly wonderful.’
MasterChef presenting duo John Torode and Gregg Wallace were also made MBEs. Torode, 56, who was born in Australia, said he was ‘truly thrilled, humbled and very grateful’, adding: ‘The British public has always been amazing, what a wonderful supportive country this is, thank you.’
His presenting partner Wallace, 57, a former greengrocer, likened his MBE to ‘a fairytale story’. He said: ‘What an unbelievable honour it is to be recognised by Her Majesty at such a fabulous moment in her glittering reign.
‘From a council estate in Peckham to being recognised by the Queen is for me something akin to a fairytale story. I am incredibly, incredibly proud.’
Birds Of A Feather actress Pauline Quirke and singer Bonnie Tyler were also made MBEs.
The Total Eclipse Of The Heart singer, 70, whose real name is
Gaynor Sullivan, was honoured for a music career spanning five decades. She said: ‘This honour just goes to show that anyone from any background can become a success, and be recognised by our wonderful country, if they put their minds and efforts into what they do.
‘I’m just a girl from a small town in Wales who just loves to sing, so to be recognised for that in this way is very significant to me and my family and friends.’