Queen's Birthday Honours: Van Morrison knighted

Van Morrison, the Belfast-born singer-songwriter, has said he is “hugely honoured” after he was knighted for his unique contribution to music over the past half century.

Sir Van, 69, a six-time Grammy Award winner whose best-known hits include Brown Eyed Girl and Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, heads a list of famous names in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

They include the newly-knighted Sir Lenny Henry, Kevin Spacey, who is made an honorary knight, and the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who finally bested his award season rival Eddie Redmayne with a CBE to Redmayne’s OBE.

Sir Van, who is famously publicity-shy, said: “Throughout my career I have always preferred to let my music speak for me, and it is a huge honour to now have that body of work recognised in this way.

^{Sir Van Morrison has been compared to the poet WB Yeats}

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the fans who have supported me on my musical journey.”

Previously awarded the OBE, Sir Van appears in the honours list under his full name, George Ivan Morrison.

Van Morrison: 25 essential songs

Brian Kennedy, a support act who tours with Sir Van, said he had written the soundtrack of Northern Ireland and broadcast it to the world.

"His contribution has been so extraordinary,” he said. “They broke the mould when they made Van."

Ralph McLean, the BBC Radio Ulster presenter, said: “In the Pantheon of great Irish artists he is right up there with WB Yeats and James Joyce.”

^{Sir Lenny Henry (Geoff Pugh)}

Lenny Henry, the comedian and co-founder of Comic Relief, is also knighted, as he had already confirmed after the news was leaked.

He said: “My family are absolutely chuffed and my friends have not stopped congratulating me. I'd like to thank everyone for being so generous and so kind. It is an extraordinary thing and I am absolutely thrilled.

"This is not just for me, this is for everyone who has done something for Comic Relief, every person who has helped us raise £1 billion and for everyone who works at Comic Relief, this is for you too."

Kevin Spacey, the American actor and outgoing artistic director of the Old Vic theatre said he feels like "an adopted son" after being awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to British theatre and international culture.

Spacey will be allowed to use the letters KBE after his name but will not be able to use the title “Sir” and will receive his insignia at a one-off presentation rather than a Palace investiture.

He said: "I am honoured and humbled by such recognition from the Queen. I must thank the British public for being so supportive of my efforts on behalf of the Old Vic.”

^{Kevin Spacey KBE (Trimark Pictures)}

Only seven new dames have been created in the list, compared with 33 knights. They include Zarine Kharas, founder and chief executive of the charity donation website JustGiving.com, and the economist Frances Cairncross.

Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor, receives a CBE, meaning he has at last got one over on his friend Eddie Redmayne, who has beaten him to a series of awards including an Oscar, but is only awarded an OBE. Stephen Moffat, who created the BBC series Sherlock, starring Cumberbatch, receives an OBE.

^{Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne, pictured with Keira Knightley (Getty)}

Chiwetel Ejiofor, who won a Bafta and an Oscar nomination for his lead role in the film 12 Years a Slave, also receives a CBE, as does Michael Bond, whose literary creation Paddington Bear found a new generation of fans through a live action film last year.

The singer Michael Ball, the broadcaster Nicky Campbell and the actor Martin Clunes all receive OBEs, as does the actress Lesley Manville, best known for appearing in several films by the director Mike Leigh.

Campbell, who was adopted and is Patron of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, said: “I am genuinely flabbergasted and if I have in any small way helped raise the profile of adoption and fostering then I'm supremely proud."

Will Pooley, the 30-year-old nurse who contracted the Ebola virus after volunteering to help victims of the deadly illness in Sierra Leone, receives an MBE for his courageous efforts.

Mr Pooley, of Eyke, Suffolk, was the first British person to contract the disease and was airlifted back to Britain for life-saving treatment last August. He went back to Sierra Leone in October to carry on his work.

His mother Jackie said: “We are very proud because he followed what he wanted to do. He followed it through even when it was uncomfortable and dangerous and he was quite aware that he was putting his life on the line.

"We are proud of him because he was doing something that most people would not dream of."

^{Will Pooley after his recovery from the Ebola virus (PA)}

Also honoured for his major role in the Ebola crisis is Dr Oliver Johnson, whose swift actions in response to the initial outbreak saved many lives, the Foreign Office said as it named him an OBE for his overseas service in Sierra Leone.

Dr Johnson, director of King's Sierra Leone Partnership, said: "Everything we achieved is due to the efforts of extraordinary local health workers and international volunteers, who have bravely led the fight against Ebola and did not hesitate to put their lives at risk to save others."

From the world of sport, the former Welsh rugby player Gareth Edwards is knighted, England Rugby World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson receives a CBE and there are OBEs for the footballer Frank Lampard and the cricketer James Anderson and MBEs for the runner Jo Pavey and boxer Carl Froch.

The journalist Caroline Criado-Perez, whose successful campaign to keep a woman on a British banknote resulted in a backlash of online abuse against her, has been named an OBE for her work towards equality and diversity.

Philippa Langley and Louis Ashdown-Hill, the historians who were instrumental in finding and reburying the remains of Richard III, are both awarded MBEs.

Nicholas Weller, executive principal at Dixons Academies in Bradford, receives a knighthood for his dedication to teaching in the week that a science teacher was stabbed by a teenage pupil at one of his schools, Dixons Kings Academy.