Actress Dame Helen Mirren has been made a Companion of Honour (CH) in the King's Birthday Honours.
The 80-year old English star, who became a household name in the 1990s after her portrayal of tough-talking DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect, was recognised for her services to drama.
The honour recognises significant contribution to the arts, science, medicine or government over a long period of time and is limited to just 65 people at any one time.
Born Ilynea Lydia Mironoff in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, Dame Helen trained as a teacher but ditched her studies in favour of the stage – making an immediate impact playing Cleopatra in a 1965 production for the National Youth Theatre.
She was soon snapped up by the Royal Shakespeare Company and tackled numerous classical parts before winning a string of roles in the 1980s including in The Long Good Friday, Excalibur and Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover.
