Honours for Branagh and Jowell

"I feel very humble, I feel elated"

Actor and director Kenneth Branagh has been knighted in a Queen's Birthday Honours list which also sees ex-Olympic minister Tessa Jowell made a Dame.

Take That singer Gary Barlow - the brains behind the Diamond Jubilee concert - is made an OBE and there is a CBE for Oscar winner Kate Winslet.

Rugby player Shane Williams and golfer Luke Donald become MBEs.

Sarah Burton, the designer of the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress, has been made an OBE.

Dame Tessa was a leading member of the 2012 bid team in the previous Labour government.

Games architect Zaha Hadid, who recently created the Olympic Aquatic Centre, has also been made a Dame.

A number of those involved in bringing the London Games to fruition as members of the Olympic Delivery Authority are also recognised.

In total 1,201 people have been recommended to the Queen for honours - 72% for work in their communities.

Harry Potter star

Belfast-born Sir Kenneth, 51, told the BBC he felt "humble, elated, and incredibly lucky" to be knighted.

World number one golfer Luke Donald and Welsh rugby hero Shane Williams become MBEs

He is known for his work in Shakespearean film adaptations but is more familiar to a younger audience as Prof Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter films. He has been recognised for services to drama and to the community in Northern Ireland.

Others receiving knighthoods include Michael Boyd, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Scottish opera director David McVicar.

Charles Dunstone - founder of the Carphone Warehouse - and lyricist, musician and long-serving pundit on TV's Countdown Richard Stilgoe are knighted for their philanthropy.

Stilgoe, 69, who has worked on hit musicals Starlight Express, Cats and The Phantom Of The Opera and has given away millions to good causes, said he was "thrilled - and a bit embarrassed".

Winslet, 36, who won an Oscar in 2009 for her role in The Reader, said she was "surprised and honoured" to become a CBE.

"This makes me very proud to be a Brit," she said.

Barlow, who co-wrote the official Jubilee song, is recognised for services to entertainment and charity.

Winslet said she was "surprised and honoured"

The 41-year-old said: "I enjoy every minute of the work I do, with a lot of it being a reward in itself, so for somebody to decide I should get recognised for that is just amazing."

Other people honoured include:

  • Mary Berry, cookery writer and judge in hit BBC series The Great British Bake-Off, gets a CBE.

  • Gareth Malone, the choirmaster behind the chart-topping Military Wives, becomes an OBE as does Edward Gardner, renowned conductor and musical director at the English National Opera.

  • Comedy writer Armando Iannucci, the brains behind the BBC's political satire The Thick of It, is appointed an OBE as is Judith Kerr, who write the popular children's story the Tiger who came to Tea

  • Other OBEs include Upstairs Downstairs actress and co-creator Jean Marsh, playwright and former Casualty star Kwame Kwei Armah, and the Railway Children's Jenny Agutter.

  • Amanda Redman, star of TV's New Tricks, has helped train dozens of actors at her Artists Theatre School and is recognised with an MBE.

  • Emma Hill, creative director of luxury British brand Mulberry becomes a CBE, and Eve Lom, founder of the eponymous skincare brand, is appointed an MBE.

  • Assistant editor of the Times Peter Riddell, and former Spectator editor Alexander Chancellor both receive honours for services to journalism.

Daredevil stuntman

Awards for sport include a CBE for former Chelsea footballer Paul Elliott, who has led campaigns against racism in the game.

David James, former England goalkeeper, is made an MBE for his charity work and services to football.

World number one golfer Donald, currently competing in the US Open, said of his honour: "Both 2011 and 2012 have been very significant years for me... and I am touched that my accomplishments have been recognised."

Number one British show jumper Nick Skelton, 54, who retired after breaking his neck in 2000 but went on to compete again, gets an OBE.

Daredevil motorcycle stuntman Eddie Kidd, who has been in a wheelchair since an accident in 1996, receives an OBE for his charity work.

Several authors receive recognition this year, including Susan Hill, the writer of ghostly thriller The Woman in Black and Judith Kerr, creator of much-loved children's series Mog.

Seventy-year-old Hill said her CBE meant she had "caught up" with her husband - a Shakespearean scholar - who received a CBE five years ago.

Ms Kerr, 89, who was recognised for services to children's literature and Holocaust education, said: "As a refugee from Hitler, I owe everything to this country, and I am delighted if I am thought to have given something back."

In the fields of science and medicine, Dr Mary Archer - wife of Lord Archer and champion of patient care and safety - is to become a dame, while Prof Tim Gowers - winner of the Fields Medal, the mathematical equivalent of a Nobel Prize - is made a knight.

Actress and campaigner April Ashley, 77, who was the first Briton to undergo a sex change operation in Casablanca in 1960, is to be appointed an MBE for services to transgender equality.

Beekeeping expert

The 2012 Birthday Honours list sees the reintroduction of the British Empire Medal (BEM), sometimes described as a "working-class" honour.

Sarah Burton created the Duchess of Cambridge's dress in 2011

Those receiving the BEM include Audrey Lloyd, a community worker from Whale Hill, a deprived area in Middlesbrough, and Geoffrey Hopkinson, from Staffordshire, for services to beekeeping.

The political world is also not left out - with those chosen selected by a new cross-party Parliamentary and Political Services Committee.

There are knighthoods for Conservative MP Tony Baldry, Lib Dem Malcolm Bruce, Labour's Tony Cunningham and George Reid, former presiding officer and SNP member of the Scottish Parliament.

Outnumbering the well-known faces are dozens of ordinary people given MBEs for their efforts in various fields.

Among them is Emma Colyer, from London, who campaigns to help children and families affected by HIV, and Anthony Lowe, from Greater Manchester, whose charity FareShare redistributes surplus produce from the food and drink industry to those in need.

The same honour goes to Kerry and Michelle Michael, a brother and sister who oversaw the restoration of the Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, after a fire.