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LONDON (AP) \u2014 Helen Mirren, one of the world\u2019s most acclaimed actors, was added Friday to a very select group of people recognized by King Charles III for their \u201cmajor contribution\u201d over the years to British life.<\/p>\nLONDON (AP) \u2014 Helen Mirren, one of the world\u2019s most acclaimed actors, was added Friday to a very select group of people recognized by King Charles III for their \u201cmajor contribution\u201d over the years to British life.<\/p>\n
The 80-year-old was named a \u201cCompanion of Honour,\u201d one of the highest awards the king can bestow to citizens in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth, limited to only 65 people at any time.<\/p>\n
Mirren\u2019s elevation to the group, which also includes British environmentalist David Attenborough, Canadian author Margaret Atwood and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was one of the highlights of Charles\u2019 latest award of honors.<\/p>\n
The honors, which aim to reward individuals for their contributions to British life, are awarded twice a year to celebrities and public figures as well as ordinary people, once at New Year\u2019s, and then in June, to mark the king\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n
Nearly 1,200 people received honors in the king\u2019s 2026 birthday list,
\nThe award recognizes Mirren\u2019s services to drama<\/p>\n
Mirren is no stranger to awards and has for decades been a star on stage and screen, as well as a powerful advocate for female actors.<\/p>\n
She has tackled numerous classical parts in theater \u2014 both in the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company from the 1960s \u2014 before winning roles in movies such as \u201cThe Long Good Friday,\u201d \u201cExcalibur,\u201d and \u201cThe Madness of King George.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also wowed British television audiences with her portrayal of Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison over seven seasons of \u201cPrime Suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Oscars in 2007, she won best actress for her performance in \u201cThe Queen,\u201d a film that follows the late Queen Elizabeth II in the aftermath of the 1997 death of Diana, Princess of Wales.<\/p>\n
The awards recognize an array of achievements<\/p>\n
Introduced in 1917 by King George V, the \u201cCompanion of Honour\u201d recognizes people who have made \u201ca major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government\u201d over an extended time period.<\/p>\n
They remain members until they die, when a replacement is then added. A new member will likely be named at the next honors list in the new year following the death Thursday of David Hockney, one of the most popular and critically lauded British artists of the last century.<\/p>\n
Others recognized on Friday include British author Julia Donaldson, who last year surpassed Harry Potter writer JK Rowling as U.K.\u2019s all-time top author, with more than 50 million books sold worldwide. She was named a dame, the female equivalent of a knighthood, for services to literature, a title that Mirren herself was awarded in 2003.<\/p>\n
\u201cReceiving this honor has been a very happy surprise,\u201d said the 77-year-old author of such books as \u201cThe Gruffalo, ” and \u201cThe Highway Rat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really gratifying to have children\u2019s books recognized in this way,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Success in sports was also recognized on Friday, with Kevin Sinfield knighted for his glittering rugby league career and subsequent fundraising exploits to aid research and support families affected by motor neuron disease, a neurological disorder.<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old has raised over 11 million pounds ($15 million) since being inspired by his friend and his teammate Rob Burrow, who died from the disease in 2024.<\/p>\n
Golf\u2019s two-time Ryder Cup winning captain Luke Donald was handed the Order of the British Empire. He will attempt to become the first person in Ryder Cup history to lead a team to three consecutive wins against the United States next year in Ireland.<\/p>\n
Chloe Kelly, who scored the winning penalty for England\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team in Euro 2025, became member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, along with six other teammates.<\/p>\n
Other notable recipients were Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi for services to music and charity nearly a year after the death of the band\u2019s legendary lead singer Ozzy Osbourne. Broadcaster and the former lead singer of Catatonia Cerys Matthews was recognized for her services to music. The array of awards are chosen by civil servants\u2019 committees based on nominations from the government and the public. They are usually given out by the king or a senior royal acting in his place, increasingly at Windsor Castle where Charles largely resides.<\/p>\n The honors don\u2019t just reward people in the public eye.<\/p>\n Debbie Lewis, who set up the bereavement support group COVID-19 Families U.K. after her father died in 2020 of the coronavirus, just four months after her mother\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Lewis first wrote on Facebook that her father had just died and she was on her own, hoping to connect with others going through something similar. Within a week, 40 people had contacted her.<\/p>\n Six years on, there are more than 4,500 people in Lewis\u2019s support network.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still a little bit in shock,\u201d the 56-year-old said of her honor on Friday. \u201cI know it\u2019s a huge achievement and I\u2019m just a little bit overwhelmed at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LONDON (AP) \u2014 Helen Mirren, one of the world\u2019s most acclaimed actors, was added Friday to a very select group of people recognized by King Charles III for their \u201cmajor contribution\u201d over the years to British life. The 80-year-old was named a \u201cCompanion of Honour,\u201d one of the highest awards the king can bestow to … Continue reading King Charles appoints actor Helen Mirren to a select group in his birthday honors list<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1515379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1451],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1515378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-entertainment-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-06-15 07:35:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1515378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1515380,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515378\/revisions\/1515380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1515379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1515378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1515378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1515378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe awards are not just for the famous<\/strong><\/p>\n