Spy chief, the late Martin Amis and Vogue editor receive UK honours

The head of MI6, the late novelist Martin Amis, Vogue’s Dame Anna Wintour and business leaders spanning Lloyds Banking Group and Accenture are among the recipients of honours in King Charles’s first birthday list.

Sir Richard Moore, head of British secret service MI6 since 2020, was knighted for his contribution to British foreign policy and national security during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Martin Amis, the author of London Fields and The Rachel Papers, who died in May, received a posthumous knighthood.

This year’s list names three Companions of Honour, of which there are only 65 recipients at any time. Professor Sir John Bell, Regius professor of medicine at Oxford university, was commended for his contribution to Britain’s vaccine strategy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dame Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, was praised for her services to fashion and publishing, and the author Sir Ian McEwan for his services to literature.

Robin Budenberg, chair of Lloyds Banking Group and the Crown Estate, receives a knighthood. The former investment banker advised the government during the 2008-09 financial crisis and subsequently became chair of UK Financial Investments.

Jeremy Darroch, former chief executive of Sky, receives a knighthood for making the company “the most valuable British start-up company created in the last 30 years when he oversaw its acquisition by Comcast for £31bn in 2018”, according to the citation.

Mark Thompson, the former BBC director-general who went on to become chief executive of The New York Times until 2020, also receives a knighthood.

Advertising executive Annette King, who was until recently head of the UK arm of Publicis before joining Accenture, receives a damehood along with Susan Langley, a senior figure in the insurance industry who is non-executive chair of the UK subsidiary of US-listed broker Gallagher.

Nicholas Varney, who stood down as chief executive last year after more than 20 years at the helm of Merlin Entertainments, is also knighted. The company operates venues, including Legoland and Madame Tussauds, and he said the honour showed the importance of the hospitality sector to the UK.

Terry Waite, who was held for five years in solitary confinement by Hizbollah in Beirut in the 1980s and continues to provide “emotional and practical support” to hostages and their families, was knighted.

Economist Diane Coyle, who was appointed Bennett Institute professor of public policy at Cambridge university in 2018, receives a damehood. She was previously a professor of economics at Manchester University and has served on the BBC Trust and the Competition Commission.

British-Nigerian poet and author Ben Okri receives a knighthood for contributions to literature. Celebrities who feature in the list of awards include Davina McCall, the television presenter, who receives an MBE and former professional footballer-turned-pundit Ian Wright, who receives an OBE.

The Cabinet Office said 50 per cent of the list were women, 11 per cent were from an ethnic minority background and 13 per cent were disabled or had a long-term health condition.