Stephen Fry and Gareth Southgate lead the list in the New Year Honours (Image: PA)
Gareth Southgate has been knighted in recognition of his efforts in taking the England football team to the brink of major tournament success. Sir Gareth, 54, leads a host of stars from the worlds of sport and showbusiness recognised in the New Year Honours today.
The former Three Lions manager’s top gong was widely supported – with the Daily Express calling for the honour on the eve of the Euro 2024 Final in July. Sir Gareth also led his country to the Euro 2020 final and 2018 World Cup semi-final. The former England and star resigned after the Three Lions’ 2-1 Euros final defeat to Spain – marking the end of an eight-year stint in the hotseat dubbed “the impossible job”.
He was joined in getting a knighthood by a “startled and enchanted” Blackadder star and QI host Stephen Fry who was honoured for services to mental health awareness. Since 2011, he has been president of charity Mind and supports the conservation group Fauna and Flora International, of which the Prince of Wales is patron.
Sir Stephen added: “When you are recognised it does make you feel a bit ‘crikey’. The most emotional thing is when I think of my childhood, my unhappiness and misery and stupidity and everything that led to so many failures.
“For my parents, really, what a disaster. Every time the phone rang, they thought, ‘Oh, God, what has Stephen done now’. It was a sort of joke in the family.” US-British author and broadcaster Loyd Grossman, 74, who presented MasterChef from 1990 to 2000, said he was “close to speechless” with his knighthood, while Daily Express columnist Alan Titchmarsh said he was “thrilled to bits” with a CBE.
The horticultrual expert and best-selling author, 75, said telling his wife and daughters about the honour was a “teary moment”. He added: “I’ve been an MBE for 25 years, so I kind of thought that was… I’ve been very happy with that. I’m flattered beyond belief.” Alan has been a familiar face on television screens for many years, first covering the Chelsea Flower Show for the in 1983.
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In 1996 he began presenting programme Gardeners’ World, which he fronted until 2002, with Monty Don taking over the role in 2003. In the acting world, Inspector Morse and Lewis star Kevin Whately, 73, was awarded an OBE and former Doctor Who Tom Baker, 90, made MBE.
Bafta-winning actress and former star Sarah Lancashire was awarded a CBE, calling it an “unexpected delight”. She won rave reviews for TV shows including Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax, following her breakthrough as Raquel Watts in during the 1990s. Sarah, 60, is currently starring alongside Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw in the spy-thriller Black Doves.
Her Last Tango in Halifax co-star and another former actress Anne Reid, 89, was made a CBE for services to drama. Three-time Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan receives a CBE. While Shameless and Bad Sisters star Anne-Marie Duff, 54, who has also played Queen Elizabeth I and Lady Macbeth, wins an OBE along with actor Eddie Marsan, 56.
Eddie, 56, said: “I am shocked, delighted and deeply honoured to receive this award.
“I am only in this position because of the constant love and support of my wife, my family and the people I grew up with in Bethnal Green, so I share this with them all.”
TV host and former Hear’Say singer Myleene Klass, 46, becomes an MBE. Jacqueline Wilson, creator of The Tracy Beaker series, has been made a Dame Grand Cross for services to literature. A host of Team GB athletes were recognised including runner Keely Hodgkinson MBE, who was named the 2024 Sports Personality of the Year two weeks ago.
Team GB won 65 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, while ParalympicsGB won 124 medals, including 49 gold medals, finishing in second place in the final medals table. The honour for Keely, 22, caps a year in which she claimed gold in the 800metres in Paris, successfully defended her European title and set a new British record of one minute 54.61 seconds that made her the sixth fastest woman in history.
Two-time Olympic champion Tom Pidcock, 25, is made an OBE, having won gold again in mountain biking, while Paralympian Hannah Cockroft becomes a CBE after coming first in the T34 100m and 800m in the French capital. Other honoured gold-medallists include swimmer Duncan Scott (OBE), sailor Ellie Aldridge (MBE) and rowers Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott, Lauren Henry and Georgie Brayshaw (all MBEs).
Two-time Olympic champion rower Helen Glover, 38, who won silver in Paris in the women’s four, receives an OBE. Former Formula One driver and broadcaster Martin Brundle is made an OBE and former Scotland and Liverpool footballer and Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen receives an MBE.
The ex-West Ham United, and Everton manager David Moyes, 63, was made an OBE.
Alan Titchmarsh has been given a CBE (Image: Getty)
Sarah Lancashire with her Black Doves co-stars (Image: Getty)
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Meanwhile, Horizon IT scandal victims Lee Castleton, Jo Hamilton, Christopher Head and Seema Misra have been honoured with OBEs for services to justice. Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted of fraud, theft and false accounting over more than a decade due to faulty Horizon software.
Some £500million has been paid in compensation to 3,300 victims so far. Senior members of the Labour Party were handed gongs as MP Emily Thornberry was made a dame, Sadiq Khan and former West Midlands mayor Andy Street were knighted. More than 1,200 people from across the UK received honours in the latest list celebrating many people working hard for their local communities through charity or voluntary work.
Prime Minister Sir said: “Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities.
“They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this government does.
“The New Year Honours List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution.” Women make up 49% of those honoured, with 12% of recipients from ethnic minority backgrounds. The list also includes 3% identifying as LGBTQ+, 15% with disabilities or long-term health conditions and 33% from lower socio-economic backgrounds.