Queen star Brian May joins Lionesses in New Year Honours list

Captain Leah Williamson is among four of England's Euro 2022-winning side in the list, being made an OBE while her teammates Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and Ellen White are all made MBEs.

Musician and animal welfare campaigner Sir Brian, who famously played God Save The Queen on the roof of Buckingham Palace during the Golden Jubilee before performing again at the Platinum Jubilee two decades later, has been appointed a knight bachelor for services to music and charity.

The astrophysicist said: "I regard it as a kind of charge, like a kind of commission to do the things that one would expect a knight to do - to fight for justice, to fight for people who don't have any voice."

Sir Grayson, the 62-year-old artist, writer and broadcaster who is known for his tapestries, ceramic works and cross-dressing, is knighted for services to the arts while fashion designer Dame Mary Quant is made a Companion of Honour.

Others to receive knighthoods include politicians who proved to be thorns in the side of Boris Johnson, including Conservative Julian Lewis, chairman of the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), and Labour's Chris Bryant, who chairs the Commons Standards Committee.

Former royal aide Jason Knauf, who made a bullying complaint against the Duchess of Sussex, is among those appointed to the Royal Victorian Order (RVO).

Senior diplomats at the forefront of the UK's response to the war in Ukraine have been included in the mix with damehoods for Melinda Simmons, ambassador in Kyiv, and Deborah Bronnert, ambassador in Moscow. Others who worked on the UK's response to Russia's invasion have also been recognised, including Dr Paul Ransom, an emergency consultant, as well as Louenna Hood, a nanny from Cambridgeshire, who organised container loads of essentials to go directly to those fleeing the war-torn country.

This year's list, which is the first published since the Queen's death, includes a total of 1,107 recipients.

Themes reflected in the list of recipients include sustained public service, youth engagement and support for climate change action.

Meanwhile, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, the director of UCL's Institute of Health who has spoken out on how policies like austerity have affected public health, said he was "astonished" to be made a Companion of Honour.

People who campaigned to bring about changes in the law after their loved ones were killed are recognised for their work too, including Pc Andrew Harper's widow Lissie.

She was compelled to lobby the Government for what became known as Harper's Law after being "outraged" at the prison sentences handed to the three teenagers responsible for killing her husband while he responded to a burglary.