PLATINUM PLATINUM JUBILEE HONOURS JOY FOR STARS
FORMER Manchester United and England footballer Rio Ferdinand received an OBE for his activism and charity work.
Ferdinand, 43, who won the Champions League and six Premier League titles during a stellar career, set up an eponymous foundation in 2012 that helps empower youngsters in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities.
Welsh superstar Gareth Bale and veteran Liverpool midfielder James Milner have received MBEs.
Bale, 32, who has five Champions League winners’ medals to his name, donated £1million to hospitals in Wales and Spain in April 2020 in the early stages of the Covid pandemic.
Like Ferdinand, Milner, 36, has a foundation bearing his name, which aims to help young people live a healthier lifestyle through sport.
Cricketer Moeen Ali, 34, has been awarded an OBE for his work in promoting the sport in deprived areas of Britain through his role as an ambassador for the StreetChance charity, among others.
Team GB’s Olympic gold medalwinning women’s curling team have also been honoured. Skip Eve Muirhead, 32, is made an OBE for her services to the sport after the team took Britain’s only gold of this year’s Beijing Winter Games. Her teammates Vicky Wright, 28, Jennifer Dodds, 30, Hailey Duff, 25, and alternate Mili Smith, 24, were all made MBEs for their efforts. The Queen has made her racing adviser John Warren a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
Mr Warren has been pictured over the years by the Queen’s side in the royal box or paddock whenever she attends major race meetings.
Awards under the RVO are bestowed by the Queen independently of Downing Street to people who have served the monarch or the Royal Family in a personal way.