WORLD-RENOWNED choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne has received his knighthood from the Prince of Wales during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The 56-year-old, whose balletic touch has enlivened everything from the musicals My Fair Lady and Oliver! to Shakespeare’s The Tempest and As You Like It, as well as a routine by comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders,was honoured for services to dance.
Perhaps best known for staging an all-male version of Swan Lake, Sir Matthew is the only British director to have won the Tony Award for both best choreographer and best director of a musical.
Others receiving awards include Beryl Vertue, executive producer for the BBC hit show Sherlock, which is produced by her daughter Sue Vertue.
Ms Vertue, who is chairwoman of Hartswood Films and worked on programmes such as Jekyll, Men Behaving Badly and the film Tommy, received a CBE for services to television drama.
She said: “When I used to get the bus from Mitcham (in south London) to type scripts for Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan, I never dreamt that six decades later I would be accepting such a prestigious honour.”
Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau, regarded as one of the leading accompanists of his generation, received an OBE, along with
president of the Lawn Tennis Association Catherine Sabin.
Colonel Edward Dawes, of the Royal Artillery, also received an OBE for services in the field.
Col Dawes, a soldier for more than 27 years, was chief of staff of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan from April 2014 to April 2015, helping to lead an international mission of 12,500 peacekeepers.
Six weeks into his tour he was kidnapped at gunpoint at an illegal checkpoint and beaten during hours of “tactical questioning” before managing to escape.
Meanwhile, Ms Sabin has backed Andy Murray and his brother Jamie to win Wimbledon titles this year.
Ms Sabin said she felt Andy Murray and his nemesis Novak Djokovic were favourites in the men’s singles at the championships, which start next month, but said she had “every confidence” the Scot could wrest the trophy from the Serbian’s tight grasp.
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