The King's Birthday Honours list has been released ahead of today's Trooping the Colour celebrations and King Charles III has included the doctors in charge of his cancer treatment as well as an important figure with a sweet connection to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II.
According to the Cabinet Office, more than 1,000 people from across the UK were included in this year's King’s Birthday Honours List, with community champions, innovative social entrepreneurs, pioneering scientists, passionate health workers and dedicated volunteers being recognised for their hard work.
Last year's honours, the King's first, included a number of well-known faces and a nod to his beloved grandchildren, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. But this year's list featured those whose work often goes unseen and unnoticed, championing their behind-the-scenes efforts and highlighting their immeasurable impact on the rest of the public.
The most touching honour on the coveted list goes to Dr Michael Dixon, the doctor in charge of King Charles's cancer treatment - proving that the side effect of his treatment hasn't overshadowed his confidence in its effectiveness. In recognition of his great work, the doctor has been made Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
Dr Dixon and the King's friendship goes back further than his cancer diagnosis, with the pair bonding over their shared interest in alternative therapies and the King appointing him as head of the Royal Medical Household in late 2022. So it was no surprise when he turned to the expert for treatment when he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
While he has only just now been recognised with such a prestigious gift, the monarch has long admired the doctor. In 2019, the then Prince Charles said of the doctor, “I have nothing but the greatest admiration for everything he has managed to do over all these years.”
In addition, the King's GP, Dr Fiona Butler, has been made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order.
And there was also a sweet nod to King Charles's late mother Queen Elizabeth II in his honours for this year.
The chaplain who read to the late Queen shortly before she passed away at Balmoral Castle, the Rev Kenneth MacKenzie, has been made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in honour of her service to The Crown.
Rev MacKenzie's didn't end with the end of Elizabeth's reign and he is still the domestic chaplain to the King and the minister at Crathie Kirk, which is the chapel on the Balmoral estate.
Elsewhere in the honours list is Emily Cherrington, who is the deputy chief executive of the King’s Foundation. Three fathers, Michael Palmer, Andrew Airey and Timothy Owen, who founded the 3 Dads Walking campaign to raise awareness of suicide in young people after losing their young daughters to suicide have also each been awarded an MBE.
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