Latest news with #NewYearsHonours
Belfast Telegraph
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Former Paralympian and world boccia champion Claire Taggart announces retirement
The 30-year-old, who was named an MBE in the 2024 New Years Honours list, won gold at the 2022 World Championships in Rio de Janiero, the crowning moment of a remarkable career. Taggart, who competes in the BC2 category, competed in her first Paralympics in Rio in 2021 and would go on to feature in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 as well, both in the individual and team sections. As part of a three-person team with David Smith and Reegan Stevenson the Larne woman secured gold at the 2019 European Championships and a silver in the individual competition before her career really took off in 2022. After winning two gold medals at the World Cup in Portugal, she would go on to be crowned world champion on her return to Rio later that year. Away from competing, Taggart works as a stationer for her day job and also serves as a disability officer for Larne Football Club.
The Independent
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Stephen Fry to be knighted by the King for services to charity
Actor Stephen Fry will be knighted by the King for his services to charity. Sir Stephen, 67, known for BBC comedy Blackadder and hosting quiz show QI, will be honoured at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday alongside more than 50 others, including three-time Olympic medallist Dina Asher-Smith. Both Sir Stephen and Asher-Smith were named in the King's New Years Honours list. Sir Stephen will be awarded the knighthood by Charles for services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity. Since 2011, he has been president of mental health charity Mind and supported the conservation group Fauna and Flora International, of which the Prince of Wales is patron. He has bipolar disorder and has been open about his struggles with mental illness. Sprinter Asher-Smith, 29, will be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to athletics. The fastest British woman on record, Asher-Smith won a silver medal in Paris last year with her 4×100 metres relay teammates for Team GB. She also won bronze in the same event in Rio and Tokyo. Alongside Sir Stephen, author Sir Alan Hollinghurst will also be knighted on Tuesday. The 70-year-old writer earned the Booker Prize with The Line Of Beauty in 2004, the first work of gay fiction to win the literary award. His novel is set during the Margaret Thatcher years and framed by her 1983 and 1987 general election victories, and follows the life of Nick Guest, a young aesthete and Oxford graduate who moves to London during the Aids epidemic. Paralympians including three-time gold medallist Poppy Maskill, 20, will also receive honours at the ceremony. Maskill was Paralympics GB's most successful athlete in Paris last year, bringing home five medals in the pool in the S14 swimming class for intellectually impaired athletes, including golds in the 100m butterfly, where she set a world record, 100m backstroke and 4x100m freestyle mixed relay. Amy Truesdale, a Paralympic taekwondo champion, will be made an MBE by Charles. The 36-year-old made history alongside Matt Bush when they delivered Britain's first Paralympic taekwondo gold medals in Paris last summer.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stephen Fry to be knighted by the King for services to charity
Actor Stephen Fry will be knighted by the King for his services to charity. Sir Stephen, 67, known for BBC comedy Blackadder and hosting quiz show QI, will be honoured at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday alongside more than 50 others, including three-time Olympic medallist Dina Asher-Smith. Both Sir Stephen and Asher-Smith were named in the King's New Years Honours list. Sir Stephen will be awarded the knighthood by Charles for services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity. Since 2011, he has been president of mental health charity Mind and supported the conservation group Fauna and Flora International, of which the Prince of Wales is patron. He has bipolar disorder and has been open about his struggles with mental illness. Sprinter Asher-Smith, 29, will be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to athletics. The fastest British woman on record, Asher-Smith won a silver medal in Paris last year with her 4×100 metres relay teammates for Team GB. She also won bronze in the same event in Rio and Tokyo. Alongside Sir Stephen, author Sir Alan Hollinghurst will also be knighted on Tuesday. The 70-year-old writer earned the Booker Prize with The Line Of Beauty in 2004, the first work of gay fiction to win the literary award. His novel is set during the Margaret Thatcher years and framed by her 1983 and 1987 general election victories, and follows the life of Nick Guest, a young aesthete and Oxford graduate who moves to London during the Aids epidemic. Paralympians including three-time gold medallist Poppy Maskill, 20, will also receive honours at the ceremony. Maskill was Paralympics GB's most successful athlete in Paris last year, bringing home five medals in the pool in the S14 swimming class for intellectually impaired athletes, including golds in the 100m butterfly, where she set a world record, 100m backstroke and 4x100m freestyle mixed relay. Amy Truesdale, a Paralympic taekwondo champion, will be made an MBE by Charles. The 36-year-old made history alongside Matt Bush when they delivered Britain's first Paralympic taekwondo gold medals in Paris last summer.
