Former prime minister Tony Blair is to be knighted with the highest possible ranking, Buckingham Palace has said, in an announcement that coincides with the New Year Honours List.
Sir Tony, who held the keys to Number 10 between 1997 and 2007, is appointed a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry.
The announcement comes as the medical chiefs leading the UK's battle against coronavirus have been recognised in the New Year Honours list.
Read more: New Year Honours 2021: Full Scottish list revealed
The longest-serving Labour PM said it was an "immense honour" to have been made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry, to which appointments are in the Queen's gift without advice from the Government.
The newly-styled Sir Tony said he was "deeply grateful" to the Queen and added: "It was a great privilege to serve as prime minister and I would like to thank all those who served alongside me, in politics, public service and all parts of our society, for their dedication and commitment to our country."
England's chief medical officer (CMO), Professor Chris Whitty, deputy CMO, Jonathan Van-Tam, and Wales' and Scotland's CMOs, Frank Atherton and Dr Gregor Smith, have been given knighthoods.
There are also damehoods for UK Health Security Agency chief, Dr Jenny Harries, and Dr June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), after a year in which the threat of new variants arose and more than 130 million vaccinations were administered.
Read more: New Year Honours List 2021: The full UK recipient list
The Government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, who was originally knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours list, is elevated to a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.
Team GB's Olympians and Paralympians who took gold in Tokyo are among those named, including cyclists Jason and Laura Kenny, who are thought to be the first married couple to be recognised on the same honours list.
And teenage tennis sensation Emma Raducanu has added another title after winning the US Open in September, as she can now say she is a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
In entertainment, Daniel Craig has been given a special diplomatic honour after his final outing as James Bond in No Time To Die.
The departing 007 is made a companion of the Order of St Michael and St George - which is styled CMG and was also conferred on the fictional spy in the film series and Ian Fleming's books.
Actresses Joanna Lumley and Vanessa Redgrave are to be made dames, while James Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli will be made a CBE.
Lumley, who is being honoured for services to drama, entertainment and art, said: "I am astonished and thrilled and touched beyond words to receive this colossal honour.
"It comes as a complete and unexpected surprise, and is the kindest and most beautiful present imaginable."
Diversity member Ashley Banjo and former Spice Girl Mel B are both to be made an MBE.
The comedian Adam Hills, who is also to be made an MBE.
Empire Medal at the ages of just 11 and 12 are the youngest honours recipients on record.
In any other year, 12-year-old Max Woosey from Devon would have found himself the youngest person ever to be honoured, after raising hundreds of thousands of pounds with his epic camping exploits.
But Max was joined on the New Year Honours list this year by Sheffield's "Captain" Tobias Weller, who had only been 11 for a month when he was told about his honour on Christmas Day.
Now Tobias has said he is "chuffed to bits" to be the youngest on record to feature on an honours list, following his series of fundraising challenges during the pandemic lockdowns.
Tobias and Max have given the New Year Honours a distinctly youthful look, helped by an MBE for teenage tennis sensation Emma Raducanu.
There is no official list of those honoured by age, but very few children have received honours since the modern system began.
Paralympic swimming sensation Ellie Simmonds hit the headlines in 2009 when she was made an MBE at the age of 14 and she remains the youngest recipient of that honour.
Simmonds was made an OBE four years later.
In a separate announcement, Buckingham Palace said Labour peer Baroness Amos has become the first black person to be appointed to the Order of the Garter, while the Duchess of Cornwall is also appointed to join other senior royals.
A Buckingham Palace statement said: "Her Majesty The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, GCVO, to be a Royal Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
"In addition, The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint The Right Honourable Valerie Ann, Baroness Amos CH to be a Lady Companion and The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair to be a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter."
Elsewhere in politics, former Labour MP Frank Field, now a crossbench peer, has been made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for his public and political service.
On the list, 15.1% of recipients are from an ethnic minority background, slightly higher than the line-up in June, but just 35.9% of recipients at CBE level and above are women.
It is dominated by sporting figures from the pool to the velodrome, but none of England's Euro 2020 finalists have been included, with the exception of assistant manager, Steve Holland.
Raducanu, who was voted the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year, is made an MBE after a fairy-tale 2021, in which the 19-year-old stormed to victory in the US Open in New York in September.
She was the first qualifier ever to win a grand slam tennis tournament and also became the first British woman since Virginia Wade in 1977 to win a grand slam, claiming the prize without dropping a set.
The British number one said: "It makes me immensely proud and grateful to be listed to receive an MBE from Her Majesty the Queen. This year has been full of amazing surprises for me so to end 2021 with this appointment is very special."
Jason Kenny's exploits in Tokyo made him Great Britain's most decorated Olympian and he now has a knighthood to go with his seven gold medals, while his wife, Laura, is made a dame after becoming the most successful British female athlete in Olympic history.
Diver Tom Daley, who won gold in the 10m synchro, will be made an OBE, while his partner, Matty Lee, will be made an MBE.
Strictly Come Dancing star Adam Peaty will be made an OBE and there is an MBE for Tom Dean after both swimmers won Olympic gold.
Seven-time Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft, who has been made an OBE after winning two golds in wheelchair racing, urged more disabled children to take up sports in school.
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