ADVERTISEMENTFor the first time ever, women make up the majority of the Queen’s annual New Year’s Honours list, representing 51 percent of all those honoured.
Angela Lansbury (pictured, left), best known for playing Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote, becomes a dame, alongside actress Penelope Keith.
Other famous female recipients include Katherine Jenkins (pictured, right), who receives an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for her contribution to music and services to charity and Karen Brady, the vice-chairman of British football club West Ham United, who is being recognised for her skills as an entrepreneur with a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire).
Some 1,195 people are honoured on the 2013 New Year’s list and 611 of them are women.
Not all recipients are famous stars and household names. In total, 74 percent of the people on the list are being recognised for active engagement in charitable or voluntary work.
Julie Bailey is to be made a CBE for setting up the campaign group ‘Cure the NHS’ after witnessing the poor standard of care her mother received at the now infamous Stafford Hospital. A nurse at the hospital, Helene Donnelly, became a whistleblower and receives an OBE.
Notable men on the list include actor Michael Crawford and presenter Nicholas Parsons, who are awarded with CBEs for services to children’s charities and charity respectively.
Awards for sport make up four percent of the list although, despite being tipped for a possible knighthood, Wimbledon tennis champion Andy Murray missed out as did David Beckham who retired from professional football in 2013.
(Photo credits: Angela Lansbury, L, – Eva Rinaldi; Catherine Jenkins, R, – David Skinner)
