Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire to be honoured at Windsor Castle

By Mathilde Grandjean, PA

Bafta-winning actress Sarah Lancashire will be among those honoured at Windsor Castle on Tuesday as she is made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Lancashire, 60, is to attend an investiture ceremony at the royal residence after she was made a CBE for services to drama in the New Year Honours.

The actress has won plaudits for her performances in TV shows including Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax, following her breakthrough role as Raquel Watts in soap opera Coronation Street during the 1990s, appearing in more than 260 episodes.

After leaving the cobbles, Lancashire earned praise for her TV drama work including on the BBC’s critically acclaimed Clocking Off from 2000 until 2003 – a series about factory workers.

She earned her first Bafta award in 2014 for her supporting role in the BBC comedy-drama series Last Tango In Halifax.

In 2017 she earned the best actress Bafta for her portrayal of no-nonsense Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the Yorkshire-set thriller Happy Valley, and became an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Also among the personalities to be honoured on Tuesday are cyclists Jenny Holl, Dannielle Khan, Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant.

All four are being made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBEs) for services to cycling.

Holl, 25, and her tandem partner Sophie Unwin won two gold medals in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, while Khan, 29, piloted Lizzi Jordan to gold in the women’s tandem 1km time trial.

Marchant, 32, won Great Britain’s first Olympic women’s team sprint gold at the 2024 Paris Games, alongside teammates Finucane and Sophie Capewell.

Finucane, 22, became the first British woman in 60 years to win three medals at a single Olympics as she took bronze in the individual sprint in the 2024 Paris Games.

Trampoline gold medallist Bryony Page is also to be made an MBE for services to trampoline gymnastics.

Paralympic swimmer Alice Tai is to be made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to swimming.

Tai, 25, topped the 2024 Paralympic podium less than three years after opting to have her right leg amputated by winning gold in the women’s 100m S8 backstroke.

Penny Briscoe, the director of sport at the British Paralympic Association who also served as chef de mission for the fifth time in Paris, is to be made a CBE during the same ceremony for services to Paralympic sport.