The third New Years Honours list in the reign of Charles III has been released.
In total, there are more than 1,200 recipients on the list, comprising of individuals recognised for being dedicated community champions, role models in sport, pioneers in the arts, passionate health workers, and supporters of young people.
There are also a number of honours for services performed for the Monarchy.
Investitures take place following the New Year’s Honours List and The King’s Birthday Honours List (Royal Family).
Recipients are selected by independent committees from nominations that are sent to them, with those chosen then formally approved by the Prime Minister and The King. Anyone can nominate or be nominated. Learn more about the specifics of the British Honours System here.
The youngest recipients on this year’s New Year honours list are both 18. Mikayla Beames has been awarded a BEM for her charitable fundraising for children with cancer in Oxfordshire. After being diagnosed with brain cancer at 4 years old, she founded her namesake charity, Team Mikayla in 2014, has supported hundreds of children who are fighting cancer, and distributes thousands of gifts at Christmas and Easter. Paralympian William Ellard has received an MBE after winning three medals including gold at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris.
Former England Men’s Football manager, Gareth Southgate, has received a knighthood for services to Association Football. Southgate led the Men’s team to consecutive European Championship runners-up finishes and the 2018 World Cup semi-finals during his eight years in charge. He was previously made an OBE in the 2019 New Year Honours list for services to football.
Upon stepping down as Manager earlier this year, The Prince of Wales said ‘Thank you for creating a team that stands shoulder to shoulder with the world’s finest in 2024. Thank you for showing humility, compassion, and true leadership under the most intense pressure and scrutiny. And thank you for being an all-round class act. You should be incredibly proud of what you’ve achieved. W.’
Stephen Fry, who is best known as an actor, writer and comedian, has received a Knighthood for his services to Mental Health Awareness, the Environment and to Charity, in his role as President of Mind and Vice-President of Fauna & Flora International. Sir Stephen said he was ‘startled and enchanted’ after receiving the news informing him of his honour. He added that he thinks ‘the most emotional thing is when I think of my childhood, and my dreadful unhappiness and misery and stupidity, and everything that led to so many failures as a child and for my parents, really, what a disaster. I mean every time the phone rang, they thought, ‘Oh God, what has Stephen done now’. It was a sort of joke in the family’.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been handed a knighthood in the New Year Honours. Taking to X, he said that he was ‘truly humbled to have received a knighthood in the King’s New Years Honours. I couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I’d one day be Mayor of London. It’s the honour of my life to serve the city I love’.
Author Jacqueline Wilson has been made a Dame Grand Cross for services to literature. The author has written more than 100 books over the past 55 years, with her children’s books tackling a variety of realistic topics such as adoption, relationships, and the challenges of growing up. Her most popular titles include The Story of Tracey Beaker, Girls In Love, and The Illustrated Mum.
Presenter Alan Titchmarsh has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to horticulture and to charity. He said finding out about the honour was a ‘teary moment’ noting that he had ‘been an MBE for 25 years, so I kind of thought that was. I’ve been very happy with that’.
Rugby union star Gerald Davies, who was Wales and British & Irish Lions winger and also served as president of the Welsh Rugby Union is mentioned in the New Years Honours List for services to his sport and for voluntary and charitable service in Wales. He commented that he felt ‘very emotional about it. I am surprised by it. Words are really quite inadequate to describe it. It comes out of the blue. I was dumbstruck in many ways, but you don’t achieve these things on your own.’
The oldest recipient on the New Year Honours List is World War Two Mosquito pilot Colin Bell, aged 103 years old, and received a BEM for his charitable fundraising and public speaking about WWII Bomber Command.
Huge congratulations to WWII veteran Colin Bell 103, who has been awarded an Empire Medal for charitable services in the New Year Honours list. pic.twitter.com/DPNAS2AmOn
— Taxi Charity (@TaxiCharity) December 31, 2024
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer 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.’
