Rugby star Sinfield and authors Blackman and Donaldson lead honours list

PA / BBC / BBC

Rugby league star Kevin Sinfield is knighted while children’s authors Malorie Blackman and Julia Donaldson are made dames in the King’s Birthday Honours.

In addition to his sporting career, the former England captain is recognised for raising millions of pounds for charities tackling motor neurone disease (MND).

Dame Julia and Dame Malorie are honoured for their services to literature. Their best known works – The Gruffalo and Noughts & Crosses – have both been adapted for the screen.

Several of the Lionesses who won Euro 2025 are appointed MBEs, including Chloe Kelly who scored the penalty to win the tournament, while Charlotte Tilbury, founder of her eponymous beauty brand, is made a CBE.

The actress Dame Helen Mirren and photojournalist Sir Don McCullin are made Companions of Honour, of which there are only 65 at any one time.

Members are recognised for major contributions to arts, science, medicine, or government over a long period of time.

Getty Images

Two women who set up support groups for families that lost relatives during the pandemic are appointed MBEs; Deborah Lewis for Covid-19 Families UK and Constance McCready for Covid-19 Families Scotland. They, like the majority of the list, are recognised for work in their communities and for charity.

In the world of entertainment, the founders of the animation studio behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run – Peter Lord and David Sproxton – are knighted. The broadcaster Anneka Rice – best known for Treasure Hunt – is made MBE and Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews is made OBE.

Sir Kevin, who scored the most points in Super League history, began his fundraising efforts after his teammate Rob Burrow was diagnosed with MND in 2019.

He embarked on a series of marathons and endurance challenges, raising more than £11m. During a marathon in 2023, Sinfield pushed Burrow in a wheelchair along the course before carrying him over the finish line. Burrow died a year later.

“I am deeply honoured and grateful to receive this award on behalf of the rugby and MND communities,” said Sir Kevin.

“Since I first played rugby when I was seven, rugby league has given me so much.”

Lindsey Burrow, Rob Burrow’s widow, said: “I know he has said he is dedicated to supporting the MND community for however long it takes to find a cure, and that means so much to so many people to have a champion like Kevin in their corner.”

As well as Kelly, the other Lionesses to be honoured are Michelle Agyemang, Jess Carter, Hannah Hampton, Lauren James and Alessia Russo. Their coach and several other teammates were recognised in the New Year Honours.

At 20 years old, Agyemang is the youngest recipient of nearly 1,200 people from across the UK to receive an honour in this list.

PA / EPA / Reuters

Other sports stars recognised include the golfer Luke Donald and rugby union player Emily Scarratt, who are both made OBEs.

Donald has captained the European team to two consecutive wins in the Ryder Cup and will be the first skipper to ever win three in a row if they are victorious in Ireland next year.

Scarratt, the Red Roses’ record points scorer, retired last autumn after winning her second women’s rugby union World Cup. Gary Street, who coached Scarratt and her England team to their first World Cup victory in 2014, is made an MBE.

There are also honours for snooker player Shaun Murphy, who is made an OBE, while rugby league’s Neil Fox is made a CBE and Ian Robertson an OBE for his career as a rugby union player and commentator.

Dame Julia has written more than 200 books and is best known for The Gruffalo – a story of a frightening woodland creature with terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws.

The first book was published in 1999 and a third instalment is due in September. “Receiving this honour has been a very happy surprise,” said Dame Julia.

She added she was grateful for the “enthusiastic support” she had received in her career.

The author of more than 70 books, including several novels aimed at young adults, Dame Malorie is similarly recognised for her contribution to the nation’s literature.

She is best known for the Noughts & Crosses series, which explores the divide between a black elite and a white underclass in a dystopian London.

Sir Peter and Sir David founded Aardman Animations in 1972 after meeting at school.

Their studio produced the first Wallace & Gromit short film, A Grand Day Out, in 1989 and since then have enjoyed critical acclaim with other animated series including Chicken Run and Shaun the Sheep.

“We both feel it is an extraordinary privilege and an honour – as well as a complete and utter surprise – to be recognised in this way,” the duo said in a statement.

Others working in the arts to be recognised include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor Dexter Fletcher, who is made an OBE, while former Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi becomes an MBE for service to music and charity.

The dance music DJ Judge Jules receives the same honour for services to music, entertainment law and young people.

David Holmes, a stuntman who became permanently paralysed from the chest downwards while working on a Harry Potter film, is made an MBE for his charitable work as well as services to film and media.

The film score composer Patrick Doyle, whose work ranges from Henry V to Thor, and opera conductor Anthony Negus are both made CBEs.

Reuters / Alamy / PA

In the first few months of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, Lewis lost her father and McCready her fiancé. The tragedies led each of them to creating a support network for other people who had lost loved ones during the pandemic.

Lewis said she set up the group after getting police permission to travel up and stay in her father’s empty house so she could help organise his funeral.

She said: “I remember I was sitting watching the news… thinking I can’t be the only person that is sat on their own, dealing with all of this with nobody to really talk to.”

Speaking of the honour, she added she was “a little bit overwhelmed at the moment”.

Patrick Vernon is being knighted for services to racial equality. He led the campaign to establish Windrush Day, which celebrates the contribution Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the UK.

Henry Grunwald is made a CBE for his work as chair of the National Holocaust Centre and Museum. Yasmin Khan, who founded the Halo Project, receives the same honour for services to ending domestic abuse and violence against women.

Merope Mills has been appointed a CBE for services to patient safety. Following the death of her daughter Martha, she created a scheme allowing concerned hospital patients to request an urgent review of their treatment.

PA Media

As well as Tilbury other figures from business and fashion on the list include Sandra Choi, creative director for Jimmy Choo, who is appointed an OBE.

There is also recognition for industrial designer Ron Arad – who is made a CBE – and the fashion designer David Emanuel. He made the wedding dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, when she married the King in 1981; he is appointed an MBE.

In politics former Conservative MP David Gauke is knighted for services to the justice system after carrying out an independent review of sentencing.

Labour MP Jessica Morden is made a dame for her political service and former Tory MP Greg Hands is knighted for the same reason.

Chris Mullin, a former Labour MP who played a key role in the release of wrongly convicted Birmingham Six, is knighted for political and public service.

He said: “At this late stage in my life, I am grateful for any sliver of recognition that comes my way.”