Supermodel Twiggy, England football boss Gareth Southgate and cave diving rescuers earn New Year Honours

British divers who helped save a youth football team trapped inside a flooded cave in Thailand have been decorated alongside stars of entertainment, sport and the arts in the 2019 New Year Honours list.
England football boss Gareth Southgate, left, and Sixties supermodel Twiggy.England football boss Gareth Southgate, left, and Sixties supermodel Twiggy.
England football boss Gareth Southgate, left, and Sixties supermodel Twiggy.

Sixties supermodel Lesley "Twiggy" Lawson receives a damehood for services to fashion, the arts and charity, and best-selling author Philip Pullman gets a knighthood.

Downton Abbey's Jim Carter gets an OBE, while Monty Python star and travel documentary maker Michael Palin is awarded a knighthood.

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Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, whose movies include Inception and Dunkirk, gets a CBE for services to film.

Overall, 1,148 recipients are named in the 2019 New Year list, including 43 people recognised for their acts responding to the terror attacks in Manchester and London in 2017.

Divers Joshua Bratchley, Lance Corporal Connor Roe and Vernon Unsworth, the ex-pat suing Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk for labelling him a "pedo guy", get MBEs for their roles in the dramatic Thai cave rescue, which gripped the world during the summer.

Four other British cave divers involved in the operation are also receiving civilian gallantry awards for exceptional bravery protecting others.

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Richard Stanton and John Volanthen, the first to reach the 12 stranded children and their team coach, are awarded the George Medal, while Christopher Jewell and Jason Mallinson receive the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

They are among 12 recipients of bravery awards announced at the same time as the main honours list, including seven firefighters who saved elderly residents from a serious blaze at a care home in Cheshunt in 2017.

Twiggy is one of 544 women recognised in the list, representing 47% of the total, the lowest percentage since 2013.

They include Stagecoach co-founder Ann Gloag, to be made a dame for services to business and philanthropy, and former CEO of Virgin Money Jayne-Anne Gadhia, who also gets a damehood for services to the financial industry and to women in the industry.

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Bafta-winning actress Thandie Newton, who starred in Oscar-winning film Crash and more recently the futuristic drama Westworld, gets an OBE for services to film and charity.

In sport, England football captain Harry Kane gets an MBE while national team manager Gareth Southgate gets an OBE, both for services to football and in recognition of England's semi-final run at the 2018 World Cup.

Kane found out about his award shortly before Tottenham's Premier League game against Southampton on December 5 after his fiancee urged him to get in touch.

The striker told Spurs' official website: "I thought something was wrong! But Kate was excited and told me that we'd had a letter from the Queen saying we'd get an MBE.