Kate Winslet, Kenneth Branagh get royal honours

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(Srilankamirror) – Kate Winslet has been honoured by the Queen with a CBE for her titanic contribution to the arts.

The actress, who won a best actress Academy Award in 2009 for The Reader and made her breakthrough as the feisty Rose in 1997 blockbuster Titanic, has been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, published today.

Winslet said the honour made her “very proud to be a Brit”.

“I am both surprised and honoured to stand alongside so many men and woman who have achieved great things for our country,” the 36-year-old star said.

Actor and director Kenneth Branagh was made a knight and will be known as Sir Kenneth.

A respected Shakespearean actor whose films as a director range from Henry V and Hamlet to the comic-book fantasy Thor, Branagh said he felt “humble, elated, and incredibly lucky” to get the honour.

It puts him in a pantheon of theatrical knights alongside the late Sir Laurence Olivier, whom Branagh played in My Life With Marilyn.

“When I was a kid, I dreamed of pulling on a shirt for the Northern Ireland football team,” said the Belfast-born, 51-year-old actor. “I could only imagine how proud you might feel. Today it feels like they just gave me the shirt, and my heart’s fit to burst.”

The honours are bestowed by twice yearly by the Queen – at New Year’s and on her official birthday in June – but recipients are selected by civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public.

Most go to people who are not in the limelight, for services to their community or industry, but they also reward a sprinkling of famous faces.

Songwriter and philanthropist Richard Stilgoe, who wrote lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, Starlight Express and The Phantom Of The Opera, was awarded a knighthood.

Musician Gary Barlow, who organised a Diamond Jubilee concert for the Queen this month featuring Sir Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Sir Elton John, was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for his services to entertainment and to charity.

Sarah Burton, who designed Kate Middleton’s dress for her royal wedding to Prince William last year, received an OBE for services to fashion.

Choirmaster Gareth Malone, who inspired thousands to sing with TV shows such as The Choir and assembled the best-selling Military Wives singing group, was awarded an OBE, as was actress and 1970s heartthrob Jenny Agutter.

Actress and campaigner April Ashley, one of the first Britons to undergo sex-change surgery, was awarded an OBE “for services to transgender equality”.

Armando Iannucci, the writer and producer behind expletive-laden British political satire The Thick of It and White House comedy Veep, received an OBE. “I just hope it’s not an attempt by the government to stop me, because that’s not going to happen,” he said.

(AP)