Angelina Jolie has been made dame commander of the order of St Michael and St George courtesy of the foreign office in recognition of her humanitarian work on conflict sexual crime. She has been in London over the last week co-chairing a London summit on war rape with foreign secretary William Hague, with whom she co-founded the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI). She is also UN special envoy for refugees.

In a press statement, she has said, "To receive an honour related to foreign policy means a great deal to me as it is what I wish to dedicate my working life to. Working on PSVI and with survivors of rape is an honour in itself. I know that succeeding in our goals will take a lifetime and I am dedicated to it for all of mine."

Maggie Smith, already a Dame, is upgraded to companion of honor for services to drama. Daniel Day Lewis is knighted, and commented that he was "entirely amazed and utterly delighted in equal measure."

Damian Lewis received an OBE and John Barrowman received an MBE. In a report in The Times of London, Barrowman told how he had heard the news: "I was signing autographs on a Saturday about two months ago and my manager Gavin just went ‘Oh my God’. I thought maybe something was wrong and he said ‘You’re getting an honour’. I just stood up and thought ‘How can this be, what have I done?’."



Author Hilary Mantel, whose books "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" have been adapted for the stage in versions that are currently running at the West End's Aldwych Theatre, has been made a dame.