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The stories behind the honours

Behind every name in the register is a reason - a lifetime of service, a single act of courage, a quiet contribution finally recognised. These are some of those stories.

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Karl Lester's MBE: a soldier's second calling on the mountains

Karl Lester of Penmachno, Conwy, was appointed MBE in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours for voluntary services to mountain rescue, after more than 555 call-outs with the Ogwen Valley team and a 23-year Army career.

John Casson's MBE: from policing to the high seas, and £750,000 for charity

The Coventry-born former police officer built one of the UK's largest security firms, helped bring the industry under statutory regulation, and gave close to £750,000 to causes from a Himalayan school to military charities - recognised with an MBE in the 2019 Birthday Honours.

Lisette Van Riel's BEM: how DoggyWarriors raised £150,000 for dogs in need

The co-founder of DoggyWarriors and DoggyLottery built a community of dog lovers that has raised over £150,000 for more than 100 rescues since 2020 - recognised with a British Empire Medal in the 2026 Birthday Honours for services to animal welfare charities.

The Hollingworths' mammoth graveyard: from a Swindon quarry to a BEM

Sally and Dr Neville Hollingworth, the husband-and-wife palaeontologists behind the Swindon ‘mammoth graveyard’ and a David Attenborough documentary, were each appointed BEM in the 2026 Birthday Honours for opening up geology and palaeontology to everyone.

Danny Proctor's MBE: the engineer behind two royal operations

When the nation mourned one monarch and crowned the next, the Royal Navy's part in both had to run without a hitch. Daniel 'Danny' Proctor, who led its logistics for Operation London Bridge and Operation Golden Orb, was appointed MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours.

Steven Gray's OBE: financing British trade across West Africa

Steven Gray spent three decades getting difficult deals over the line across Africa and the Middle East. As UK Export Finance's man in West Africa, he was appointed OBE in the 2022 Birthday Honours for helping British firms win and deliver work in some of the world's toughest markets.

Adrian Isaac's BEM: 25 years of woods for Boston

Adrian Isaac, founder and chair of the Boston Woods Trust, received the British Empire Medal in the 2026 Birthday Honours for services to the environment, after a quarter-century creating accessible woods and parkland around the Lincolnshire town.

James Gurling OBE: from Liberal Democrat politics to cathedral music

James Gurling, awarded an OBE in 2015 for political service, now volunteers on the Cathedral Music Trust's development committee, helping sustain choral and organ music across the UK.

Dorothy Ind's MBE: forty years of Chelsea Ballet

Dorothy Ind, founder and principal of Chelsea Ballet Schools, was made an MBE in the 2026 Birthday Honours for services to dance education, four decades after she founded the Kensington and Chelsea school.

Neil Pirie's OBE: four decades building business space in east Bristol

Colin Neil Pirie, founding director of Spaceworks, received an OBE in the 2026 Birthday Honours for over forty years of community work in Bristol, from tackling youth unemployment to building a network that now supports around 200 small businesses.

Dr Mark Stuart OBE: the pharmacist keeping sport clean

Dr Mark Stuart was appointed OBE in the 2026 Birthday Honours for services to the pharmacy profession in sport and to anti-doping, after more than two decades advising athletes and UK Anti-Doping on medicines in sport.

Kevin Sinfield's knighthood: rugby, fundraising and a fight against MND

The former rugby league captain's endurance challenges and advocacy, inspired by his friendship with Rob Burrow, helped earn him a knighthood in the 2026 Birthday Honours - for services to rugby league, rugby union and the motor neurone disease community.

Jay Singh-Sohal's OBE: remembering the Sikh soldiers of the world wars

Captain Jay Singh-Sohal, an Army reservist who helped institute a memorial to the Sikh troops of the world wars at the National Memorial Arboretum, was made an OBE in the 2025 Birthday Honours for voluntary service.

Paul Carney's OBE: a lifelong sapper's outstanding service

Former Army Sergeant Major Paul Carney, a lifelong sapper who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo after enlisting in 1997, was made an OBE in the 2025 Birthday Honours for outstanding service; he now works for the housing provider Pinnacle.

Public life

A microscopist and a Lioness: King's in the 2026 Birthday Honours

Two King's College London community members were recognised in the 2026 Birthday Honours: William Luckhurst BEM, honoured for four decades of electron microscopy, and Michelle Agyemang MBE, the Euro 2025 Lioness and King's student, at 20 among the round's youngest recipients.

King's College London alumni in the 2021 New Year Honours

Twenty-five King's College London alumni were recognised in the 2021 New Year Honours, many for the COVID-19 response, from knighthoods for Sir Simon Baron-Cohen and Sir David Stuart to CBEs, OBEs, MBEs and British Empire Medals.

The University of Manchester community in the 2026 Birthday Honours

Twenty-five members of the University of Manchester community - alumni, staff and supporters - were recognised in the 2026 Birthday Honours, from a Companion of the Bath and a Knight Grand Cross to CBEs, OBEs, MBEs and a British Empire Medal.

The names you know

Two new Companions of Honour - Dame Helen Mirren and war photographer Sir Don McCullin - plus damehoods for Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson and Malorie Blackman, and a knighthood for rugby's Kevin Sinfield.

King's College London in the 2025 Birthday Honours

Dozens of the King's College London community were recognised in the 2025 Birthday Honours, led by a Knight Grand Cross for the psychiatrist Sir Simon Wessely, with knighthoods, CBEs, OBEs, MBEs and a British Empire Medal across the arts, medicine, the military, finance and the environment.

King's College London in the 2024 Birthday Honours

King's College London alumni and staff were recognised across the 2024 Birthday Honours, led by a knighthood for the historian Sir Roderick Beaton and a damehood for the education economist Dame Alison Wolf, with CBEs, OBEs, MBEs and a British Empire Medal.

King's College London in the 2023 Birthday Honours

In the first Birthday Honours of King Charles III's reign, King's College London alumni and staff were recognised across medicine, nursing, mental health and education, with CBEs, OBEs, MBEs and British Empire Medals.

King's College London in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours

King's College London alumni and staff were recognised in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours, led by knighthoods for the NHS medical director Sir Stephen Powis and the tropical-medicine expert Sir David Warrell, with CBEs, OBEs, MBEs and a British Empire Medal.

King's College London in the 2020 Birthday Honours

King's College London leaders and alumni were recognised in the 2020 Birthday Honours: a knighthood for the principal Sir Edward Byrne, a damehood for the nursing scholar Dame Anne-Marie Rafferty, and an OBE for the geneticist Tim Spector.

King's College London in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours

Five King's College London academics and alumni were recognised in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, across psychiatric research, stroke medicine, higher education, dentistry and UK/Brazil relations.

Community

Six Alder Hey clinicians honoured for the Southport response

Six surgeons, anaesthetists and critical-care staff at Alder Hey Children's Hospital received the British Empire Medal in the 2026 Birthday Honours for their care of children injured in the 2024 Southport attack.

Bella Cameron: a British Empire Medal for hospitality in South Uist

Isabella ‘Bella’ Cameron, head of kitchen at Grogarry Lodge, received the British Empire Medal in the 2026 Birthday Honours for services to hospitality and to the rural economy in South Uist.

The 306 local heroes

The British Empire Medal is the most local honour there is, and 306 were awarded this year - to Dean Allen in Telford, Alison Brittle in Saddleworth, Campbell Best in Portadown, and hundreds more like them. For most, that short citation is the only public record of a lifetime of quiet service.

Twelve foster carers, honoured

A quiet cluster of fifteen foster carers were recognised this year - and Birmingham Children's Trust appears three times across the foster-care awards.

Analysis

Two-thirds of honours went to community recognition

Of 1,452 recipients, 972 - about 67% - were MBEs and British Empire Medals: the community-level awards that recognise the volunteers, carers and coaches at the heart of local life.

Themes

What Britain chose to honour

Taken together, the citations name education as the cause Britain honoured most this year, ahead of health and community service. Science is strongly represented at the top end - cosmologist Sir Carlos Frenk, dementia researcher Dame Carol Brayne and engineer Dame Hayaatun Sillem.