Marina Dalglish, 54, received the honour at a star-studded investiture ceremony as reward for her success in raising £1.5m through the Marina Dalglish Appeal.

Mr Dalglish, who played for Celtic and Liverpool, said: "We're very proud, it's been fantastic what she's done, obviously with a great deal of help.

"There's an awful lot of people got an awful lot of benefit from the work she's done."

Mrs Dalgish, a former sufferer, led efforts to build a chemotherapy centre at Aintree University Hospital on Merseyside through the Marina Dalglish Appeal. She recovered after being diagnosed with the disease in 2003.

Mrs Dalgish said after receiving the honour that her fundraising was a way of putting something back into the community.

She said: "I had breast cancer six years and I wanted to do something as way of a thank you.

"Receiving the MBE has been embarrassing really, the charity is in my name but there are a lot of people who have worked to make this possible not just me."

Appropriately for the eve of Halloween, Hammer Horror movie legend Christopher Lee was knighted by the Prince of Wales and hailed the Hammer horror movies that made his name.

Sir Christopher, famed for his spine-chilling roles as Count Dracula and other dark characters said he would always be grateful to the studio that made his name.

The 87-year-old - who also found fame for his role as the villainous Lord Summerisle in the cult film The Wicker Man - has appeared in more than 250 films and television productions and was honoured for services to drama and to charity.

Sir Christopher said he would not divulge what the Prince had said to him after being knighted but said the heir to the throne was "extremely complimentary" adding: "He couldn't have been nicer and was very easy to talk to."

He added: "I've always been grateful for the opportunity to play characters, it happened to be for that company which made me not always a face but a name all over the world which was extremely important at that time."

Lee became known for his blood-curdling performances opposite Peter Cushing in the Hammer movies but admitted he had become typecast by the end of the 1960s.

He added that his role in the 1970 movie The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was a turning point and allowed him to branch out.

He said: "Since then I've never been typecast although I've played a lot of bad guys, there's more scope than being the man in the white hat."

He said modern horror movies show "blood and gore and mutilation". "It's what you don't see that keeps you on the edge of your seat in any kind of film - leave it to the imagination of the viewer,” he added.

Olympic cycling gold medalist Nicole Cooke, of Swansea, collected an MBE for services to sport. Her achievement sparked the British gold rush at last year’s Beijing Games last year.