Strictly’s Amy Dowden to be honoured at Buckingham Palace
The Welsh dancer will receive her MBE for services to fundraising and raising awareness of inflammatory bowel disease.
Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden and composer John Rutter are among those set to be honoured by the King at Buckingham Palace.
The Welsh dancer will be formally made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to fundraising and raising awareness of inflammatory bowel disease, while Sir John will receive a knighthood for services to music in a ceremony on Tuesday.
Dowden revealed in 2019 that she was living with Crohn’s disease before fronting a BBC programme titled Strictly Amy: Crohn’s And Me, in which she spoke about her struggles with the condition.
Three years later, she was admitted to hospital in Manchester following a Crohn’s flare-up while on the Strictly live tour.
In 2023, the dancer was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after coming back from her honeymoon with husband Ben Jones, and revealed in the 2024 BBC documentary Strictly Amy: Cancer And Me that she has frozen some embryos.
Sir John, who is also a conductor, editor and arranger, is best known for his choral compositions, including Christmas carols, anthems and extended works such as the Gloria, the Requiem and the Magnificat.
He has previously had compositions commissioned for major royal events including Queen Elizabeth II’s golden jubilee and for the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2011.
More recently, the first two choral items sung at the late Queen’s platinum jubilee national service of thanksgiving in June 2022 and six pieces performed at the coronation of King Charles were arrangements by Sir John.
Sir John was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to music in the 2007 New Year Honours, and in 2023 he became a Fellow of The Ivors Academy.
Among other recipients due to be honoured on Tuesday are Jasvinder Sanghera, who will be made a Dame Commander for services to the victims of child, forced marriage and honour-based abuse.
Dame Jasvinder, from Derby, was just 14 years old when she was faced with the prospect of a forced marriage, but defied her parents’ wishes by refusing and leaving home.
Ostracised by her family, she later founded the charity Karma Nirvana in 1993, described as the first specialist charity for victims and survivors of honour-based abuse in the UK.
In November last year, she was appointed by Harrods as an advocate for survivors of alleged abuse by its late former owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
Dame Jasvinder said she was “honoured to be a part of this project” because she believed the department store wished to “get this right”.
