Martin Amis awarded knighthood day before he died as Ian McEwan also honoured

Sir John Bell, a leading scientist who served as Boris Johnson’s Covid-19 testing tsar during the pandemic, spoke of his “delight” at being elevated to a Companion of Honour for his services to medicine and life sciences.

Line Of Duty actress Vicky McClure, television presenter Davina McCall and veteran broadcaster Ken Bruce were made MBEs.

Ms McClure, who became a household name in the UK following a series of high-octane TV roles, was honoured for services to drama and charity while Ms McCall received hers for services to broadcasting.

She said the honour “means a great deal” following a television career spanning more than two decades.

Sir Rupert Gavin, chairman of Historic Royal Palaces, Booker Prize-winner Sir Ben Okri, former BBC director-general Sir Mark Thompson and Sky’s executive chairman Sir Jeremy Darroch became Knight bachelors on the King’s Birthday Honours list.

The oldest recipient on the list, 106-year-old Joan Willett, was given a British Empire Medal for her charitable fundraising for the British Heart Foundation. The youngest, Junior Jay Frood, 18, received the same honour for services to vulnerable children.

Helped deliver royal babies

The King has also made consultant gynaecologist Alan Farthing, who helped deliver the Prince and Princess of Wales’s three children, a commander of the Royal Victorian Order.

The former England footballer Ian Wright and ex-England rugby captain Sarah Hunter are among the sporting stars who have been recognised.

Sir William Shawcross, author of the Queen Mother’s official biography and head of a criticised review into the Government’s anti-terror programme, received a knighthood for his public service.

More than half (52 per cent) of this year’s recipients are people who showed “outstanding work” in their communities, either in a voluntary or paid capacity, which was a core focus behind the list, according to those involved in the selection process.

Exactly half of the recipients are women – down slightly from 2022 (51.5 per cent) – but the third year in a row when females have made up at least half of the Birthday Honours list.

Some 11 per cent this year go to people from an ethnic minority background, down from 13.3 per cent on 2022 and 15 per cent in 2021.

Oliver Dowden, Deputy Prime Minister, said: “This year’s honours list is a testament to ordinary people who have demonstrated extraordinary community spirit, and I pay tribute to all those who have been recognised today.

“Our honours system has long been a way of recognising people who make an incredible contribution to life in Britain and beyond.”

Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan has been made a Companion of Honour in the King’s first Birthday Honours for his contribution to literature.

Dubbed Britain’s greatest living novelist, his short stories, film scripts and novels have earned him worldwide critical acclaim over the span of almost five decades.

McEwan, who is set to turn 75 next week, earned the nickname “Ian Macabre” owing to the darkness of his first two novels, The Cement Garden, in 1978 and The Comfort of Strangers, in 1981.

The Hampshire-born author later won the prestigious Booker Prize for his novel Amsterdam in 1998, while his next novel Atonement garnered critical acclaim and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 2007 starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

Many more of his works have been adapted for film, including First Love, Last Rites in 1997, The Cement Garden in 1993, The Comfort of Strangers in 1991 and Enduring Love in 2004.

David Cameron arranged to be photographed on the London Underground reading one of McEwan’s most acclaimed novels, On Chesil Beach, in 2007.