14 June 2024 , 21:30
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King Charles has honoured Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon in his Birthday Honours List has for his glittering career and charity work.
The British icon, 65, has been handed an OBE, despite previously saying he didn't want to be knighted because "you can't carry a sword around and chop people's heads off". Le Bon has staged a string of charity gigs and is ambassador for the Tall Ships Youth Trust which runs seafaring trips for disadvantaged young people across the UK.
In an interview in 2007 he told American magazine Blender: "I'm not that desperate to get a knighthood, to be honest with you. I love that whole thing of 'knights in armour', but it's just not the same anymore is it? You can't carry a sword around and chop people's heads off. What's the point?"
But now the pop legend has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours list, alongside stars of the screen and stage. The Crown actor Imelda Staunton, 68, was made a Dame for her services to drama and charity.
Duran Duran songwriter Simon Le Bon who has been made an MBE for services to Music and to Charity (PA)In a statement she said: "I am really thrilled to be the recipient of this honour. I feel genuinely humbled to be recognised on the same level as the amazing actresses, all the great Dames, who have led the way for so many of us.
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"It is their talent, dedication, wit and energy that have paved the way for us all and have set the standards to which we all aspire. I am also delighted that this honour recognises my support for charity as well as my work as an actress.
"I feel privileged to be able to use the success I have achieved to help others who find themselves in difficulty and to offer support to all the wonderful charities and charity workers who strive so hard on behalf of others.
"I feel that this honour also recognises the importance of the Arts in this country. Theatre, film and television are essential to our well being, stand at the heart of our culture and are admired throughout the world. I am proud to play my part in this important industry."
Artist Tracey Emin, 60, was also made a Dame for her staggering career, while The Crown and A Very British Scandal star Alex Jennings, 67, was given an OBE.
Susie Dent has been handed an MBE for her "services to Literature and to Language" (PA)Coronation Street and dinnerladies star Shobna Gulati, 57, was made an MBE. Comedy legend Armando Iannucci, 60 and former BBC exec and presenter Alan Yentob, 77, was also awarded an OBE.
Countdown word whizz Susie Dent, 59, was handed an MBE for her "services to Literature and to Language". Star Wars and Lord of the Rings star Kiran Shah, 67, who is the world's smallest stuntman, was also given an MBE.
British artist Tracey Emin has said that being made a dame is "another brilliant surprise" in her life. The artist, known for her headline-grabbing 90s works Everyone I Have Ever Slept With and My Bed, has been given a damehood in the King's Birthday Honours list for her services to art.
"Dame Tracey has a good ring to it," the 60-year-old said in a statement. "I'm very very happy. Another brilliant surprise in my life."
Bafta winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, 29, who was the first deaf contestant to ever take part in Strictly Come Dancing, was made an OBE for voluntary services to the deaf community. Former X Factor finalist Rebecca Ferguson, 37, was also handed an OBE for services to music. Earlier this year she gave evidence to a Parliamentary committee to claim the music industry is hiding "awful human rights abuses".
Rose Ayling Ellis has been made an MBE for voluntary services to the Deaf Community in the King's Birthday Honours list. (PA)She said she has endured "systematic misogyny and bullying" throughout her career as part of a report into misogyny and discrimination in the UK music scene.
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Boney M star Liz Mitchell, 71, was also made an MBE - saying it "feels like a message from above" because her late father was proud to share the same honour. Liz said that her late father Norman Mitchell, who was part of the Windrush generation, was "so proud" of becoming an MBE in 2014 for his charitable work.
X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson has been recognised for services to the music industry (PA)"It's pretty amazing that it is happening now," she said her own honour. "I got the news actually after the service (for her father). I think if I'd gotten it before, I might have made mention of it because my dad was so proud of his MBE.
"It was a dream for him, come true. He loved the Queen so much."
Mitchell said she "could not believe it" when she was told of the honour as "everything is so raw with me because my dad just passed and the MBE was so important to him". "It's right in the moment of my mourning my father, it's just amazing," she said. "It feels like a message from above. I don't understand it, but it feels like something unique has happened in the atmosphere that I can't explain."
Meanwhile the founding member of Manchester-based band M People, as well as a successful solo artist, Heather Small, 59, was made an MBE.
Harry Potter and The Crown star Imelda Staunton has also been recognised by King Charles (PA)Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera has become an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). The 73-year-old English songwriter and record producer was mentioned in the King's Birthday Honours List for his services to music.
Countdown star Susie Dent said she was "delighted" that she is being honoured for sharing her joy of language. The lexicographer, etymologist and author, 59, has been made an MBE for services to literature and to language as part of the King's Birthday Honours list.
Dent said: "I'm thrilled by this unexpected recognition, and will celebrate it on behalf of word lovers everywhere. Throughout my career I've tried to share the joy of language and of books (above all, the dictionary!) and so I'm especially delighted to be honoured for my contribution to language and literature.
"They are the mainstays of my life, and I'll do my very best to continue spreading the word, quite literally."
Satirist Armando Iannucci has said he will take his CBE as a signal to keep defending public broadcasters from "attacks on independence and funding". The 60-year-old Scottish writer and director, who was behind the foul-mouthed Westminster sitcom The Thick Of It, was named in the King's Birthday Honours for services to film and television.
Iannucci has been a constant presence in British comedy, on both sides of the camera, for more than three decades. He has worked on hit shows such as the BBC's I'm Alan Partridge and HBO's Veep, which saw him move into US television, along with movies such as The Personal History Of David Copperfield.
He said: "I'm proud to work in the British TV and film industry. It's the best in the world, yet weirdly I've been spending more and more of my energy defending our public service television from attacks on its independence and funding. I'll take this award as a cue to keep going.
He added it had been a "huge surprise" and was "delighted", saying: "But as with all awards, you know, I'm very happy to receive them, but I feel that they shouldn't affect what you do next".