David Beckham receives knighthood as Strictly hosts and Luke Littler made MBEs in King's Birthday Honours

13 June 2025, 22:30 | Updated: 13 June 2025, 23:03

Former England football captain David Beckham has been awarded a knighthood in the King’s Birthday Honours, with Strictly's hosts, former Wimbledon tennis champion Virginia Wade and teenage darts sensation Luke Littler also recognised.

Beckham, a winner of league titles in four countries and of 115 national team caps, has been awarded the honour for services to sport and to charity.

Sir David also won the Champions League as part of Manchester United’s treble-winning team in 1999, and since retiring as a player has become a founder and co-owner of American team Inter Miami.

He has worked as an ambassador for the worldwide charity UNICEF since 2005 and since last year has been an ambassador for the King’s Foundation.

Beckham said in a statement released to the PA news agency: “Growing up in east London with parents and grandparents who were so patriotic and proud to be British, I never could have imagined I would receive such a truly humbling honour.

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“To have played for and captained my country was the greatest privilege of my career and literally a boyhood dream come true.

“Off the pitch I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to represent Britain around the world and work with incredible organisations that are supporting communities in need and inspiring the next generation.

“I’m so lucky to be able to do the work that I do and I’m grateful to be recognised for work that gives me so much fulfilment.

“It will take a little while for the news to sink in but I’m immensely proud and it’s such an emotional moment for me to share with my family.”

Meanwhile, Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman has been given a knighthood in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to drama.

The London-born film star, 67, is known for his versatile acting style having portrayed a range of figures, from former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill to Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious.

He started out on the stage and performed in productions at the York Theatre Royal, which he recently returned to in a staging of the Samuel Beckett play Krapp’s Last Tape.

One of his more recent and most recognisable roles is as veteran MI5 agent Jackson Lamb in Apple TV’s Slow Horses, based on the Slough House book series by British writer Mick Herron.

Late last year he won the performance of the year gong at the 63rd Rose d’Or Awards for his role as Lamb, an unhygienic, ill-mannered individual, who has “no vanity” and “doesn’t give an eff”, according to Sir Gary.

Littler, who earlier this year became the youngest ever world darts champion at the age of 17 years and 347 days, has been made an MBE.

“This is an amazing and unexpected honour but one which I am very grateful for,” said Littler. “To receive a recognition like this is something I had never thought would be possible, and it is a proud moment.“It’s unbelievable what I’ve done for my sport; I’m happy, my family is happy and I can’t wait to receive it.”

Luke Humphries, who beat Littler in the 2024 PDC World Championship final, has also been made an MBE while Deta Hedman, who has won world-ranked darts titles in each of the last five decades and became the first black woman to play at the PDC World Championship in 2020, has become an OBE.

Humphries said: “When I got the letter, I kind of couldn’t believe when I opened it and it’s a very proud moment.

My mum and dad are obviously incredibly proud as well. It usually happens later on in people’s careers, but it’s happened in mine pretty early. I feel pretty blessed, to be honest, I’m fortunate enough to get one.”

On his and Littler’s impact on the popularity of their sport, he added: “We’ve changed the face of darts over the last couple of years.

"It’s starting to become a younger man’s game. It’s nice to be at the forefront of that.”

Other sports stars to be recognised include 1977 Wimbledon champion Wade, who has been made a CBE, while two-time Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee has become an OBE.

Rachel Daly, one of the stars of the England women’s football team which won the European Championship on home soil in 2022, has been made an MBE.

The Harrogate-born star, 33, plays for Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League but retired from international football last year

Daly told the PA news agency: “I am greatly honoured to receive an MBE. This award is not just for me, but for everyone who has supported me and worked alongside me. It’s a very proud moment for me and my family.”

Frank Rothwell, the owner of Oldham who secured their return to the EFL earlier this month, has become an OBE for services to dementia research.

In cricket, former England pace bowler Devon Malcolm has been made an OBE while Steven Davies, who in 2011 became the first international cricketer to come out as gay, has been made an MBE.

Former Gloucestershire bowler David Lawrence, who took 625 wickets for the county, has also been made an MBE.The 61-year-old, affectionately nicknamed ‘Syd’, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year.

Lawrence said: “It is an incredibly proud moment to have been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours. It is not something I ever thought would sit after my name, but I am absolutely delighted that it will do so for however long I am here and will be a part of my legacy when I am gone.

“As a proud Gloucester man who achieved his dream to play for England on the cricket field, it means a great deal to me and to my family who have supported me with all their love during some difficult times.

“I have always put my heart and soul into any challenge I have faced and that is how I have approached things since my diagnosis with motor neurone disease. With awareness and funds for research we can make a positive difference for those who will need it in the future.”

Monica Vaughan, a 10-time Paralympic swimming gold medallist, becomes an OBE while Andy Lapthorne, a 17-time grand slam champion in wheelchair tennis, has been made an MBE.

Two-weight boxing world champion Natasha Jonas becomes an MBE, as does motorcycle rider Michael Dunlop, golfer Trish Johnson and BBC gymnastics commentator Christine Still.

Strictly Come Dancing presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman were also recognised in the King's Birthday Honours.

TV presenter Claudia Winkleman has said she is “incredibly grateful” to have been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours.

The Traitors presenter was honoured on Friday alongside her Strictly Come Dancing co-host, Tess Daly, for services to broadcasting.

Winkleman, 53, said: “I am incredibly grateful to receive this honour.

“It’s a real privilege to work with extraordinarily talented people and I have only got this because of them. So this is for the BBC, the traitors and the faithful, for pianos and for the cha cha.

“I will buy a hat and am taking my mum. I am ridiculously lucky and will celebrate with Tess by doing a paso doble.”

Born and raised in London, she studied history of art at Cambridge University and after graduating began her career as a TV and radio presenter, fronting a range of BBC TV shows including Comic Relief and The Great British Sewing Bee.

She also presented on BBC Radio 2 until 2024, hosting different programmes on the station including the comedy quiz series Hot Gossip, the Claudia Winkleman Arts Show and Claudia On Sunday.

In 2004, she joined BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing, presenting its weekday companion show It Takes Two until she passed it to broadcaster Zoe Ball, with her taking on the Sunday night results show alongside Daly.

The presenter joined Daly for the main show every Saturday from 2014, after Sir Bruce Forsyth stepped down.

The Bafta-winning presenter is also behind the hit BBC game show The Traitors and won best entertainment performance at the 2023 awards.

She will be fronting its charity spin-off series, The Celebrity Traitors, in which 19 famous faces will enter the castle in the Highlands, including comedian Alan Carr, actor and broadcaster Sir Stephen Fry and retired diver Tom Daley.

Stephen Lambert, who is also recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours and is the founder and chief executive of Studio Lambert, said: “I’m thrilled that Claudia Winkleman is being honoured too; her brilliant hosting has played such a key role in the success of The Traitors.”

Studio Lambert is the production company behind The Traitors, Gogglebox, Race Across the World, and Squid Game: The Challenge.

Winkleman hosts the Channel 4 general knowledge gameshow One Question, where she recently described wanting to cry after a father and daughter won £100,000, making history on the programme for winning the top prize without looking at all of the possible answers.

She also presents Channel 4’s The Piano, in which she is joined by singer-songwriter Mika and Grammy-winner Jon Batiste, as they hunt for Britain’s most talented undiscovered pianists.

She will host a concert for this year’s BBC Proms, including a matinee and evening Traitors-themed performance, which is expected to have a range of famous classical works, alongside new arrangements of some of the music from the popular psychological reality programme.

Winkleman is a trustee of the The British Museum and a patron of Child Bereavement UK.

Reality TV star Georgia Harrison has said she is “completely blown away” at being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to tackling online privacy and cyber crime awareness.

Over the past couple of years the 30-year-old, who has starred in reality TV shows including The Only Way Is Essex and Love Island, has turned her hand to campaigning on violence against women and girls after becoming a victim of revenge porn.

She told the PA news agency: “Honestly, I’m completely blown away to be receiving an MBE – it’s one of my proudest achievements and something I didn’t expect to be coming through the letter box this summer.

“It means the world to have this kind of recognition, not just for me, but for all the survivors who’ve been through what I have.

“Speaking out after what happened wasn’t easy, but I knew it was important.

“I didn’t want anyone else to feel as alone or powerless as I did. I’ve tried to turn something painful into something positive, and this honour is a reminder that we can make change when we use our voices.

“Thank you to everyone who’s supported me along the way, to all of the MPs that invited me in to speak with open arms and to all the charities that supported me and my fellow survivors.

“I’ll never stop fighting for what’s right and I’ll always step up when and where I think I can make a positive difference for others.”

In 2021, the TV star waived her right to anonymity amid a trial that saw her ex-partner, Stephen Bear, accused of sharing a secretly recorded sex tape of her to adult content website OnlyFans.

Bear, also a reality TV star, served 10 and a half months of a 21-month sentence after being found guilty of voyeurism and of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.

In April 2023, the month after he was sentenced, Harrison attended a demonstration, held outside Parliament by domestic violence charity Refuge, calling for specific protections for women and girls to be included in the Online Safety Bill.

She also called for social media platforms to be “held accountable” for online harassment and abuse, and criticised the justice system for failing to “keep up”.

Later that year, she discussed the Bill in a Downing Street meeting with former technology secretary Michelle Donelan as it returned to the Commons for its final stages.

In recognition of her work advocating for online safety and the prevention of violence against women and girls she won the activist gong at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards 2023.

Reflecting on her campaigning, she told The Sun in October 2023 that she had had “serious conversations with a couple of Labour MPs” about a bid to represent an Essex constituency.

In 2024, she helped Thames Valley Police launch a campaign about sexual consent titled Consent Conservations.

Harrison explored the prevalence of deepfakes and image-based sexual abuse in an ITV documentary titled Georgia Harrison: Porn, Power, Profit, which was released earlier in the year.

As well as Love Island, she has taken part in reality TV shows including Celebrity Ex On The Beach and Channel 4 reality show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, which she won with boxer Lani Daniels.

In April, she announced she was expecting her first child with her partner Jack Stacey.