6 h. ago The household names to turn down gongs from the Queen or King with New Year's honours list due

Being handed an honour by the monarch is widely considered a huge achievement there are plenty of well-known faces who have spurned the advances of Buckingham Palace

Politics

12 h. ago Dancing On Ice's Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean 'to be honoured by King'

Gold medal winning Olympic heroes Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are set to receive top honours from HM King Charles III this New Year - over 40 years after they triumphed in Sarajevo

Politics

31 h. ago Dancing On Ice's Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean 'will be given damehood and knighthood in the King's New Year Honours' after five decades of skating

Jayne, 68, and Christopher, 67, were appointed MBEs in 1981 and OBEs in 2000, and a petition for their knighthood and damehood was last rejected in 2023.

Politics

3 d. ago Darts star quit job after reaching World Championship final before the 'devil came for me'

A darts star's remarkable run to the World Championship final saw him go from being a factory worker to a household name before it all went wrong

Sport

3 d. ago People to refuse an honour from the Queen or King as New Year's honours list due

While many see being recognised as an honour there are many high-profile people who have rejected honours from the Queen or King

Politics

6 d. ago The Devil’s Backbone review – rich, rousing ghost story is early gothic gem from Guillermo del Toro

Executed with trademark technical flair and empathy, this part-horror, part-fairytale set in a haunted orphanage from 2001 is one of the director’s bestHe’s a household name now after The Shape of Water and his new Frankenstein, but 25 years ago Guillermo del Toro was a virtual unknown, still bruised from the Harvey Weinstein-produced Hollywood flop Mimic. But, as this overlooked follow-up attests, he was always a class act. In fact, this is one of his best: a rich, rousing ghost story shrouded in trademark gothic gloom but executed with technical flair and a good deal of empathy.As with his later breakthrough Pan’s Labyrinth, it’s part-horror, part-fairytale, with children at its centre. The setting is a middle-of-nowhere boys’ orphanage in 1930s Spain, a leftist sanctuary from Franco’s fascists during the civil war. Newcomer Carlos (Fernando Tielve) must find his feet in this semi-surreal realm, with an unexploded bomb in the middle of the courtyard, some kindly adults (one-legged...

Science

6 d. ago Students’ ‘honour’ at building project marking 35th year of King’s Foundation

The new structure is inspired by the legend of Ghillie Dhu, a mythical being once thought to inhabit woodland near Loch a Druing in the Highlands.

Politics

1 week ago I spent a month trying to smile like Zohran Mamdani – it’s no easy feat | Arwa Mahdawi

While the New York mayor-elect is constantly smiling in the face of his detractors, having a perma-grin didn’t come so easily to meAs a big fan of citizen science, I have spent the past month conducting a very important experiment. While I am not quite as hardcore as the American virologist Jonas Salk, who injected the polio vaccine into himself and his family before large-scale trials, this scientific inquiry has involved some personal pain. You see, I have spent the last month trying to smile like Zohran Mamdani. This is not, as I have discovered, an easy feat.Ever since the incoming mayor of New York became a household name, I’ve been intrigued by his perma-smile. His detractors call him a “jihadist”, and he smiles. He meets Donald Trump, and he smiles. Some Republican lawmakers launch a campaign to investigate his path to citizenship and deport him? He keeps on smiling. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him look angry. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago From Seinfeld to Shawshank, Rob Reiner changed Hollywood for ever

Reiner’s own films reshaped modern comedy and drama with their intelligence, empathy and range. But through his company, Castle Rock, he paved the way for Seinfeld, Sorkin and many moreNews: Rob Reiner found dead in apparent homicideGallery: Rob Reiner – a life in picturesMeeting Reiner was like a visit from SantaAs a film-maker, Rob Reiner championed humour, civility and intelligence – qualities you suppose would be out of step with the Hollywood of the 1980s where he made his name, and in the 1990s where he scored a series of extraordinary, far-reaching successes. Reiner had a family interest in the workings of on-screen comedy: his father Carl had played a key role on Sid Caesar’s TV shows, which themselves were revolutionary, and helped birth a new generation of screen comics by directing Steve Martin’s film debut The Jerk. Rob had become a household name as Meathead, the liberal foil to Carroll O’Connor’s bigoted Archie Bunker in 70s sitcom All in the Family (the equivalent to ...

Politics

2 w. ago Martin Compston: ‘I don’t have many regrets in life, but that does give me cold sweats’

He’s about to reprise the role that made him a household name for the long-awaited seventh season, but first, the Scot is starring in a revenge thriller with a difference. He talks to Katie Rosseinsky about career near-misses, the ‘kernels of truth’ in the new ‘Line of Duty’ script and why he can’t wait for the World Cup

Politics

2 w. ago Incredible reason girl, 11, becomes youngest person to be honoured with an MBE

Carmela Chillery-Watson, 11, was recognised in the King's Birthday Honours for her services to charitable fundraising after raising over £400,000 for Muscular Dystrophy UK

Politics

2 w. ago Girl, 11, ‘speechless’ after becoming youngest person to receive MBE

Carmela Chillery-Watson was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for her services to charitable fundraising

Politics

2 w. ago Philanthropist Sir Hans Rausing ‘immensely proud’ of receiving Knight Bachelor

‘This would have meant a great deal to my late wife, Julia, whose vision led to the creation of our charitable trust,’ says Tetra Pak heir

Politics

2 w. ago The Who rocker Sir Roger Daltrey, 81, is awarded his knighthood by the Prince of Wales after gushing he was 'deeply honoured' to be recognised

The rocker, 81, was recognised with a knight bachelor in The King's Birthday Honours list in June for services to charity and music.

Politics

2 w. ago Peter Kay roasts Paddy McGuinness as he teases Phoenix Nights movie reboot

The Channel 4 sitcom, which aired between 2001 and 2002, made Kay a household name

Politics

2 w. ago Welsh TV presenter Ruth Dodsworth collects King's honour she says is for 'every single person who held my hand'

Ruth has publicly spoken out about her own experience with coercive control at the hands of her ex-husband, and has now been awarded for her services to victims and survivors of domestic abuse

Politics

2 w. ago Claudia Winkleman smiles ear to ear after officially being made an MBE

The Strictly Come Dancing presenter and The Traitors host, 53, was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.

Politics

2 w. ago Claudia Winkleman beams as she receives MBE from the King ahead of Strictly Come Dancing exit

The presenter, 53, was recognised alongside her Strictly co-host Tess Daly, with both women recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting

Politics

2 w. ago Traitors host Claudia Winkleman among those to be honoured at Windsor Castle

Winkleman and her Strictly Come Dancing co-host Tess Daly were both made MBEs in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.

Politics

3 w. ago Donald Trump gives medal to unexpected British sitcom icon at deeply weird ceremony

Trump gave Kennedy Centre Honours to Sylvester Stallone, the members of Kiss and Gloria Gaynor - as well as a huge figure in musical theatre who was a household name in the UK in the 1970s

Politics