Sir Galahad: knighthood for Python star Palin

BRITISH divers who helped save a youth football team trapped inside a flooded cave in Thailand have been decorated alongside stars of entertainment, sport and the arts in the 2019 New Year Honours list.

Sixties supermodel Lesley “Twiggy” Lawson receives a damehood for services to fashion, the arts and charity, and best-selling author Philip Pullman gets a knighthood.

Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter gets an OBE, while Monty Python star and travel documentary maker Michael Palin is awarded a knighthood.

Overall, 1,148 recipients are named in the 2019 New Year list, including 43 people recognised for their acts responding to the terror attacks in Manchester and London in 2017.

Divers Joshua Bratchley, Lance Corporal Connor Roe and Vernon Unsworth, the ex-pat suing Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk for labelling him a “pedo guy”, get MBEs for their roles in the dramatic Thai cave rescue, which gripped the world during the summer.

Four other British cave divers involved in the operation are also receiving civilian gallantry awards for exceptional bravery protecting others. Richard Stanton and John Volanthen, the first to reach the 12 stranded children and their team coach, are awarded the George Medal, while Christopher Jewell and Jason Mallinson receive the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.

Palin, who gets a knighthood in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas list for his international contributions to travel, culture and geography, said news of the accolade had not sunk in yet.

He said: “I don’t think it will be until I see the envelopes addressing me as Sir Michael Palin. I have been a knight before, in Python films. I have been several knights including Sir Galahad and the knight who said, ‘ni’.”

He added: “I am so very pleased that I was able to sort of morph from being Python and becoming a traveller, or a presenter of travel programmes. That gave me the chance to see an enormous amount of the world.”

Broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham said “our wildlife needs a voice to shout above the noise” after being awarded a CBE for services to nature conservation. Some 544 women are recognised in the list, representing 47 per cent of the total, the lowest percentage since 2013.

They include Stagecoach cofounder Ann Gloag, to be made a dame for services to business and philanthropy, and former CEO of Virgin Money Jayne-Anne Gadhia, who also gets a damehood for services to the financial industry and to women in the industry.

Bafta-winning actress Thandie Newton, who starred in Oscar-winning film Crash and the futuristic drama Westworld, gets an OBE for services to film and charity.

Daphne Self, the world’s oldest working professional model at 90, gets a BEM for services to women and fashion.

Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, author of the feminist dystopian work The Handmaid’s Tale, becomes a member of the Order of the Companions of honour for services to literature.

Actress Sophie Okonedo, who starred in Hotel Rwanda has her OBE upgraded to a CBE for services to drama.

Dr Helen Pankhurst, a senior adviser at CARE international, and great-granddaughter of suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, also gets a CBE, for services to gender equality.

In sport, England football captain Harry Kane gets an MBE while national team manager Gareth Southgate gets an OBE, both for services to football and in recognition of England’s semi-final run at the 2018 World Cup.

Former England cricket captain Alastair Cook is knighted for services to cricket while Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas gets an upgrade from MBE to OBE. Former footballer Leroy Rosenior, now vicepresident of Show Racism the Red Card, gets an MBE for services to tackling discrimination in sport.

Motor neurone disease sufferer and former Scottish rugby player George “Doddie” Weir gets an OBE for services to rugby, motor neurone disease research, and the community in the Scottish Borders.

In politics, veteran Brexiteer John Redwood and his Tory colleague Gary Streeter, who voted Remain, are both knighted for political and public service along with Labour’s Deputy Chief Whip Alan Campbell.