Rushdie Honoured By Queen...

Botham and Rushdie Lead Honours

List highlights

Ex-cricketer Ian Botham and novelist Salman Rushdie have both been knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Botham's knighthood is a reflection of his achievements on the field - and long-distance fundraising walks.

Cancer sufferer Jane Tomlinson, who along with Dame Edna Everage creator Barry Humphries is made a CBE, joins others recognised for charity efforts.

Singer Joe Cocker, author Barbara Taylor Bradford and footballer Ryan Giggs are among the OBEs on the list.

The Cabinet Office said a key aim of the 2007 Birthday Honours was to reward those in the areas of education, health, law and order and the charity sector.

All the 946 people on the list have been nominated by the public or expert organisations.

Family celebration

Cricketing legend Botham, 51, was the first player to score 5,000 runs and take 300 wickets in Test matches.

He has raised about £10m for Leukaemia Research through his charity walks, including his 1988 trek over the Alps with elephants, a recreation of Hannibal's journey.

"I'm delighted that I've been honoured, not only for myself but for the people that have helped me get there," he said.

"My wife Kath ran most of the walks and this will be very much a family celebration."

Rushdie went into hiding in 1989 after his fourth novel the Satanic Verses provoked riots and calls by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini for his assassination. In 1998, the Iranian government said it would no longer support the fatwa, but some groups have said it is irrevocable.

The 59-year-old said: "I am thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour, and am very grateful that my work has been recognised in this way."

Mrs Tomlinson, 43, who has raised £1.5m since being diagnosed with incurable metastatic breast cancer in 2000 and became an MBE four years ago, said she was "very surprised" at her latest honour.

Knighthoods also go to John Hegarty, the advertising industry executive behind campaigns for companies such as Levis and Johnnie Walker, and Norman Rosenthal, exhibitions secretary at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Former North Lanarkshire Council education chief Charlie Gray, 78, becomes a knight after almost five decades of service in local government.

Radio astronomer professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, whose 1967 discovery of the first pulsar stars that release bursts of radio waves ranks as an important milestone, is among the new dames.

'Civic duty'

Senior district judge Timothy Workman, who hears most of the high profile extradition cases to go through the English courts, is made a CBE for services to the administration of justice.

The same honour goes to barrister Shami Chakrabarti. The director of human rights group Liberty described the news as recognition that "democratic dissent is not disloyalty, it is a positive civic duty".

Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent, who has covered stories from world hotspots including Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, becomes a CBE.

In the Diplomatic List, there is a CMG for Oleg Gordievsky, former KGB colonel, who became the service's highest-ranking defector.

Risque lingerie

Others to be honoured from the world of sport by becoming MBEs are former England footballer Teddy Sheringham and Dee Caffari, the first woman to sail single-handedly non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds and currents.

An OBE goes to Terry Griffiths, the retired Welsh snooker player, who became world champion at his first attempt in 1979.

Soprano Emma Kirkby, who is among the new dames, heads the honours in entertainment.

Last of the Summer Wine actor Peter Sallis - the voice of Wallace in the Wallace and Gromit animated films - TV screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and 1960s leading screen actress Sylvia Syms all become OBEs.

Sallis, 87, said of his honour for services to drama: "I'm flattered. I don't even dream about these things, which is probably just as well.... but it means a lot to me."

Carmen Munroe, an actress who has played an instrumental role in black British theatre, is also appointed an OBE.

CBEs go to Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis and TV historian David Starkey, while London's Burning actor Glen Murphy is made an MBE.

Joe Corre will be following his mother Dame Vivienne Westwood to a Buckingham Palace investiture.

The founder of risque lingerie label Agent Provocateur and his partner Serena Rees have been made MBEs. Fashion designer Betty Jackson gets the same honour.

Hairdresser to the stars Nicky Clarke becomes an OBE, as does contemporary rose-breeder David Austin.

Secret Santa

There is a CBE for Lt Col Duncan Green, director-general of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, for services to animal welfare.

And an MBE goes to Johanna Beumer who founded Whittingham Kennels in north London to look after retired racing greyhounds.

Carers Denis and Ann Holder from Rotherfield, East Sussex, who have fostered more than 100 children over 32 years, are made MBEs.

And pensioner Edward Cooper, from east Belfast, becomes an MBE for services to the community.

He has spent over half a century spending his own money on buying and distributing Christmas presents to underprivileged children.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6757369.stm

Published: 2007/06/15 23:00:05 GMT

© BBC MMVII