Dame Julie Walters leads roll call of stars to be honoured on the Queen's Birthday as Billy Connolly is knighted and Emilie Sande and Ed Sheeran are recognised

Grand dame of comedy: Julie Walters

Grand dame of comedy: Julie Walters

Actresses Julie Walters and June Whitfield head a stellar list of showbusiness greats in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Miss Walters, 67, and Miss Whitfield, 91, have been made dames in recognition of their services to drama, while comedian Billy Connolly, 74, has been knighted for his services to entertainment and charity.

Miss Walters, one of the nation’s best-loved actresses, finally receives her damehood having been appointed OBE in 1999 and CBE in 2008. The mother-of-one is hugely popular for her TV comedy collaborations with late friend Victoria Wood.

She has won acclaim for her roles in films such as Educating Rita, which won her a best actress Oscar nomination, Billy Elliott, hit musical Mamma Mia! alongside Meryl Streep and Calendar Girls.

Miss Walters, who is also well-known for playing Molly Weasley in seven of the eight Harry Potter films, began her career as a nurse in Birmingham before quitting to move to Manchester with a boyfriend where she enrolled on a drama course.

She struck up a friendship with Miss Wood while the pair worked on stage together in the late 1970s and just a few years later they brought their sketch show Wood And Walters to ITV.

At the age of 91, Miss Whitfield is another late damehood recipient for her services to drama and entertainment.

The London-born comedy star notched up credits in the West End and radio before she became a household name in her long-running partnership with the late actor and comedian Terry Scott.

Their sitcom marriage in Happy Ever After, in 1974, later became Terry And June.

She is much-loved as Edina Monsoon’s acerbic mother in Absolutely Fabulous and reprised her role last year in the spin-off movie.

In a statement, she said: ‘It’s amazing and a great honour and the icing on the cake of life.’

Much-Loved: June Whitfield with Terry Scott. Miss Whitfield is another late damehood recipient for her services to drama and entertainment

Much-Loved: June Whitfield with Terry Scott. Miss Whitfield is another late damehood recipient for her services to drama and entertainment

One of the most successful comedians of his generation, Connolly revealed in 2014 he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease on the same day. He has since been give the all-clear from cancer.

Born in Glasgow in 1942, the father-of-five started out as a folk singer and musician alongside Gerry Rafferty before developing the stand-up act that made him famous.

He is also an accomplished actor, winning praise for his role opposite Dame Judi Dench in Mrs Brown in 1997. The star is a patron of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability and is also a patron of Celtic football club’s The Celtic Foundation.

Connolly has joked that he should be called Sir Lancelot after being knighted because ‘Sir Billy doesn’t quite have the same ring’ to it. He told the BBC: ‘I am a little embarrassed but deep within me, I’m very pleased to have it.

Sir Funnybone: Billy Connolly with wife Pamela Stephenson

Sir Funnybone: Billy Connolly with wife Pamela Stephenson

‘I feel as if I should be called Lancelot or something. Sir Lancelot, that would be nice. Sir Billy doesn’t quite have the same ring.’

Twenty years after he was knighted by the Queen, Sir Paul McCartney, 74, is upgraded with a Companion of Honour for services to music, alongside JK Rowling.

The author, 51, who is marking two decades since the publication of the first Harry Potter book, is honoured for services to literature and philanthropy.

Cook and writer Delia Smith, 75, made a CBE in 2009, was also awarded a Companion of Honour for services to cookery.

Broadcaster Gloria Hunniford has said she is ‘humbled’ to have been awarded an OBE and that if her daughter was alive she would be ‘so excited’.

Miss Hunniford, 77, is a familiar face on the small screen having spent decades in showbusiness, but it is her charity work that has earned her the accolade.

Miss Hunniford lost her daughter Caron Keating to breast cancer in 2004. Her death prompted Miss Hunniford and her sons Paul and Michael to set up the Caron Keating Foundation, which gives grants to all types of UK cancer charities.

Scottish singer Emeli Sande, 30, and star Sandie Shaw, 70, both receive MBEs for their services to music.

Miss Sande, born in Sunderland to a Zambian father and English mother, had the biggest selling album of 2012 with her debut Our Version of Events and performed in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics.

One of the most successful British singers of the 1960s, Sandi Shaw had three number 1 singles during the decade.

Sarah Lancashire has been given an OBE
Sir Paul McCartney is upgraded with a Companion of Honour for services to music

Honoured: Happy Valley actress Sarah Lancashire has been given an OBE while Sir Paul McCartney is upgraded with a Companion of Honour for services to music

In 1967, the singer became the first British entry to win the Eurovision Song Contest with her UK chart-topping song Puppet on a String.

There are also OBEs for comedian David Walliams, 45, Happy Valley actress Sarah Lancashire, 52, and Miranda star Patricia Hodge, 70.

Among the CBE recipients is 98-year-old actress June Spencer, best known for her role in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers as Peggy Woolley.

Also receiving CBEs are illustrator Raymond Briggs, 83, and former SAS sergeant and Bravo Two Zero author Andy McNab, 57.

In sport, Judy Murray, 57, has followed in the footsteps of her sons in receiving an honour. She has been given an OBE for services to tennis, women in sport and charity.

And at 26, it's Sheeran MBE 

Chart-topping singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

From sleeping on Jamie Foxx’s sofa as a budding musician to performing to tens of thousands worldwide, the 26-year-old has come a long way since he released his debut album in 2011.

He will receive an MBE for services to music and charity. It comes a week before one of his biggest gigs to date, closing Glastonbury festival.

 His smash-hit third album Divide, released just over three months ago, became the fastest-selling album by a male artist in the UK.

Sheeran, pictured, grew up in Framlingham, Suffolk, and is thought to be worth £29million.

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