Another high note for Adele as stars add shine to the list

SKYFALL singer Adele has added another award to her fast-growing collection with an MBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Adele received an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Picture: PA

The 25-year-old, who found worldwide fame after a friend posted her demo on social networking website MySpace in 2006, already has a bulging trophy cabinet, from Brit Awards to Grammys, and most recently an Oscar for her James Bond song.

The singer, whose full name is Adele Adkins, became a mother in October, and tops off an eventful year with an MBE for services to music.

See the full list here

Tony Robinson, famed for his role as long-suffering Baldrick in the Blackadder series, will receive a knighthood.

He joked that he would be rescuing “damsels in distress” and slaughtering dragons if the need arose in light of his new title.

Robinson, 66, is best known to TV viewers for his performances in four series of Blackadder and getting stuck into archaeological digs in Time Team.

But his award – his first inclusion in the honours list – has been made in recognition of his public and political service, and he said he would use his knighthood to continue his work. He said: “I’m thrilled, flattered and a little gobsmacked to have received this recognition from my country.

“I’ll use my new title with abandon to highlight the causes I believe in, particularly the importance of culture, the arts and heritage in our society, and the plight of the infirm elderly and their carers.”

Robinson’s Blackadder co-star Rowan Atkinson, who starred in last year’s Olympics opening ceremony, receives a CBE for services to drama and charity.

MBEs go to singer and broadcaster Aled Jones and singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, as well as comedian Rob Brydon; actor, director and playwright David Haig; and Chocolat author Joanne Harris.

Sports presenter Clare Balding, widely praised for her coverage of London’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, receives an OBE for services to broadcasting and journalism.

The accolade comes just weeks after she collected an honorary Bafta in May in recognition of her on-screen achievements. She said: “It has been a year of unexpected delights. This is the pinnacle.”

OBEs go to GQ editor Dylan Jones, Labyrinth author Kate Mosse and Christian Horner, principal of the Red Bull Formula 1 team. The OBE is also given to Wendy Parry, whose 12-year-old son Tim was killed alongside three-year-old Johnathan Ball in the IRA bombings in Warrington in March 1993.

OBEs also go to fashion journalist Hilary Alexander, Jill Stein, director of the Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall, and former wife of chef Rick, for services to the restaurant industry.

Entrepreneur and former Dragon’s Den star Hilary Devey gets a CBE for services to the transport industry and to charity, with a CBE also going to cinematographer Roger Deakins, best-known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes, including Skyfall.

Former James Bond villain and Game Of Thrones star Julian Glover receives a CBE, along with director Michael Attenborough, son of Lord Attenborough; ceramic artist Grayson Perry; actress Claire Bloom; and Thomas Heatherwick, designer of the Olympic Cauldron.

A total of 1,180 receive awards in this year’s Birthday Honours, including 556 women, 47 per cent of the total.

Dames include Professor Nicky Cullum, professor of nursing at the University of Manchester; Professor Hermione Lee, president of Wolfson College and professor of English literature at the University of Oxford; and Diana Ellis, executive chair of British Rowing.

An MBE is given to master boatbuilder Mark Edwards, Michael Pritchard, inventor of the Lifesaver ultra-filtration bottle, and Helen Butler, founder and manager of the Isle of Wight Squirrel Project.

CBEs go to former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner Sue Akers, who led the phone hacking inquiry, and Christopher Allison, National Olympic security co-ordinator for the London 2012 Games.

Awards for sport make up 4 per cent of the total and include nine-time women’s world professional darts champion Trina Gulliver, who receives an MBE for services to darts and to charitable fundraising.

Around 10 per cent of honours are for work in education, including knighthoods for Greg Martin, executive headteacher of Durand Academy in south London, and Professor Malcolm Grant, president and provost of University College London, while science and technology makes up 2 per cent.

Industry and the economy make up 10 per cent and include knighthoods for Richard Olver, chairman of defence contractor BAE Systems; John Lewis Partnership chairman Andrew Mayfield; and former TUC general-secretary Brendan Barber.

Philanthropy is recognised, including damehoods for Phyllis Somers, who has donated more than £46 million to a range of medical research and social welfare charities, and for Janet Wolfson De Botton, who has donated to the Tate and other cultural institutions and to research into neurological diseases through the Wolfson Foundation.

The British Empire Medal, re-introduced last year, has seen even more people recognised for their efforts in society.

The Head of the Civil Service, Sir Bob Kerslake, said 1,180 people were honoured in this year’s list, of which 72 per cent actively engaged in charitable work. “Women make up 47 per cent of the list - this is the same as last year - and we will continue to work on this to push it up further,” he said.