Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is originally from Wales, Formula One racing driver David Coulthard and prominent Indian-origin businessman Kartar Lalvani are among 975 people named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List on Saturday.
Queen Elizabeth II’s official birthday, her 84th, was celebrated on Saturday with a Trooping the Colour parade at Whitehall and the birthday honours list. The queen’s actual birthday is on April 21.
The ceremony at Horse Guards Parade was attended by Prince Charles, who is Colonel of the Welsh Guards, Princess Anne, Colonel, Blues and Royals and Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha.
Welsh-born Oscar-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has got a CBE, record producer Robin Millar, who has been blind since 1985, also has been awarded a CBE, and playwright, author and critic Bonnie Greer an OBE. Jimmy Choo shoes founder Tamara Mellon too has got an OBE for “services to the fashion industry.”
Statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, who invented the method for deciding weather-affected cricket matches, have been made MBEs. Among Indian-origin Britons awarded in the honours list is Kashmir-born judge Khurshid Hassan Drabu, who moved from Srinagar to Britain in 1971. Mr Drabu has been honoured with the title of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to community relations. The retired senior judge, who is based in Winchester, Hampshire, is the co-founder of the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella body for Muslim organisations in the UK.
Dr Sukhbir Singh Kapoor, the vice-chancellor of the World Sikh University, has been honoured with an OBE for his services to community relations. Based in Pinner Road, Harrow, the university, which was set up in 1997 is the first Sikh religious educational establishment to be established in Europe.
Dr Prem Dutt Sharma, whose son Alok was elected as a Conservative party MP from Reading West in this election, has been honoured with an OBE for services to community relations. The veterinary surgeon is based in Reading, Berkshire.
Indian-origin financial expert Deepak Lalwani, director, Astaire and Partners, has been given an OBE for “services to the financial services industry.”
Vitamin giant Vitabiotics founder Dr Kartar Lalvani, who also own an Indian restaurant in London, was made an OBE for services to the pharmaceutical industry and to charity.