Andrew Motion, who retired six weeks ago as Poet Laureate, today becomes the first British poet to receive a knighthood for more than a quarter of a century. The last to be so honoured was Stephen Spender in 1983.

He is recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, with the golfer Nick Faldo and the veteran horror actor Christopher Lee also becoming knights. Among the others to be honoured are the cookery writer and broadcaster Delia Smith, the actress Sue Johnston, the hairdresser Vidal Sassoon and the actor Alan Cumming.

Motion, 56, the first Poet Laureate to hold the post for a fixed period, becomes one of a select group of poets — John Betjeman and William Empson among them — to have been knighted in modern times.

A controversial figure as Poet Laureate, he was highly praised for creating the Poetry Archive but often derided for the poems that he wrote about the Royal Family — including the rap that he created for Prince William’s 21st birthday, which was described as “excruciating” and worse.

He said recently that the eight royal poems he produced during his ten years in the post were the most difficult of his life.

“I am thrilled and delighted and feel very honoured,” he said yesterday. “Writers and in particular poets do not get as many of these as actors. A lot of the honour goes to the world of poetry in general.”

Towards the end of his laureateship, people began to appreciate what he was doing, he believed. “The weather did seem to change in an interesting way,” he said. “This definitely brings the sun out.”

Christopher Ricks, who will shortly step down as Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford, is also knighted. His successor remains unclear after his elected replacement, Ruth Padel, was forced to stand down amid allegations of a smear campaign against a rival candidate, Derek Walcott.

Lee, 87, made his name playing a succession of Hammer horror characters, including Dracula, Dr Frankenstein’s monster and The Mummy. One of the most prolific screen actors — he is currently filming The Resident in New Mexico — he has more than 250 film and TV credits to his name. These include The Lord of the Rings in which he played Saruman.

Johnston, 65, who is appointed OBE, spent eight years playing Sheila Grant in Brookside before taking the part of the long-suffering mother Barbara Royle in The Royle Family.

Cumming, 44, whose appearances range from X2: X Men United to the 1998 Broadway production of Cabaret — for which he won a Tony — is appointed OBE for services to film, theatre and the arts and for his work as a gay-rights campaigner.

Other actors honoured include Lindsay Duncan, 58, and Jonathan Pryce, 62, who are both appointed CBE. James Bolam, 70, the former Likely Lad, is appointed MBE.

Vidal Sassoon, 81, who styled the hair of royalty, models and film stars during a career which revolutionised hairdressing, is appointed CBE, as is Delia Smith, 67, for services to the food industry. The Norwich City supporter and cookery writer’s books have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

The economist David Blanchflower, who predicted the recession and repeatedly voted for interest rate cuts while a member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, is appointed CBE, as are Graham Vick, artistic director of the Birmingham Opera Company and Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Condé Nast UK. Gail Rebuck, chief executive of Random House, is appointed a Dame.

The acclaimed Japanese classical pianist Mitsuko Uchida, who lives in London, becomes a dame.

Kay Mellor, the writer of television hits such as Band of Gold and Fat Friends, is appointed OBE; the fashion designer Jeff Banks is appointed CBE and Natalie Massenet, the founder of Net-A-Porter, is appointed MBE.

Peter Howson, the artist who depicted Madonna and her former husband Guy Ritchie naked, is appointed OBE.

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