Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison was given a knighthood and Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in British Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honors announced on Friday.
Rugby stars Gareth Edwards and Jonny Wilkinson as well as William Pooley — a British nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone — were also honored.
US actor Kevin Spacey, who is ending a 10-year run as artistic director of London’s Old Vic theater, was awarded an honorary knighthood, which he said made him feel like an “adopted son” of Britain.
Two historians who helped discover the remains of 15th-century British king Richard III under a parking lot, Philippa Langley and Louis Ashdown-Hill, received honors as well.
The queen’s honors are awarded twice a year and although the focus is often on celebrities, most are ordinary people recognized for work in their communities.
Van Morrison was awarded the highest honor, a knighthood, for services to music and tourism in Northern Ireland.
The 69-year-old, known for the 1967 hit Brown Eyed Girl, continues to write and perform.
Redmayne, 33, who won an Oscar this year for playing British scientist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, was made an OBE.
Fellow actor Benedict Cumberbatch missed out on an Oscar for The Imitation Game, but the star of the TV show Sherlock gained some compensation with a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).
His Twelve Years a Slave co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor was also named a CBE, as was Michael Bond, the creator of the much-loved stories about Paddington Bear.
A British doctor involved in fighting the Ebola epidemic in west Africa, Oliver Johnson, was named an OBE, while Pooley, the 30-year-old nurse who contracted the deadly virus before recovering, was named a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).
In the world of sport, Welsh rugby legend Edwards was given a knighthood while World Cup winner Wilkinson, who retired last year, was made a CBE.
Former England soccer player Frank Lampard was named an OBE, as was cricketer James Anderson, England’s record Test wicket-taker, while England women’s soccer captain Casey Stoney was made an MBE.
Just over half of the 1,163 awards went to women, including Zarine Kharas, who founded charity fundraising site JustGiving.com and was made a dame.
Twenty-five-year-old Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project that catalogues women’s experiences of sexual harassment, was awarded a British Empire Medal, which rewards a contribution of relatively short duration.
The leader of one of Britain’s biggest trade unions, Paul Kenny of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, was given a knighthood, which he said was welcome “recognition of the crucial role trade unions play in society.”
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