Ed Sheeran has been awarded an MBE and Billy Connelly is now Sir Billy Connelly in Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honors list.
The chart-topping singer/songwriter can add Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire to his name thanks to his services to music and charity.
Ironically, he was left with a scar on his cheek when the Queen’s granddaughter Princess Beatrice allegedly hit him in the face with a sword blade as she attempted to ‘knight’ his pal James Blunt at a party.
Also making the Queen’s Birthday Honours: comedian Billy Connolly, who receives a knighthood, and 100-year-old Gone With the Wind star Olivia de Havilland, who becomes a Dame.
Connolly, who is battling Parkinson’s disease, admits he could never have imagined becoming a Sir when he was growing up in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1940s and 1950s.
“It’s so odd for someone from that background to get it (knighthood),” he told the BBC on Friday (16Jun17). “It always feels strange to be welcomed into the establishment but I feel completely comfortable with it.”
Meanwhile, actresses Julie Walters and June Whitfield have also been named Dames.
Absolutely Fabulous star Whitfield received an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 1985 and a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 1998.
“I’ve met some of the other dames and it’s absolutely wonderful to join the club,” she says.
Sir Paul McCartney and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling have become Companions of Honour, alongside designer Sir Terence Conran and beloved British TV cook Delia Smith.
The news of his latest accolade came as Sir Paul was preparing to celebrate his birthday: “I’m very happy about this huge honour and with the news coming on my birthday weekend and Father’s Day it makes it colossal,” he beamed.
McCartney turns 75 on Sunday (June 18).
Other celebrities on the list include comedian and author David Walliams (OBE), singer-songwriter Sade (CBE), Emeli Sande (OBE), author Raymond Briggs (CBE), actresses Patricia Hodge and Sarah Lancashire (OBE), and Gugu Mbatha-Raw and her Belle writer/director Amma Asante, who both receive MBEs.
There were also MBEs handed out to model Erin O’Connor and singer Sandie Shaw.
