Clare Balding and Thandiwe Newton are among the high-profile names set to receive honours during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.

Ms Balding will be made a CBE for a career which started at the BBC covering the Grand National and saw her go on to cover Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as provide live broadcast coverage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding.

Actress Thandiwe Newton will be made an OBE for services to film and charity after a career which has seen her win a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Film Award.

Alongside them will be triathletes Lauren Steadman, who won Paralympic gold at Tokyo 2020, and Alex Yee, who won silver during that year’s Olympics. Both are to be made MBEs for their achievements.

Ryan Cowling and Dr Nicholas Cummins will also be made MBEs for their services to wheelchair rugby.

Michael Foreman, who has been an author and illustrator of children’s books since the 1960s and who has also worked as a journalist and lecturer, has been given an OBE for services to literature.

Olympic sailor Hannah Mills will be made an OBE for services to sailing and the environment. She won gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and has been an avid campaigner against single-use plastic through a group she founded called Athletes of the World.

Devon-born newsreader and journalist Alexis Bowater will receive an OBE for services to the safety and equality of women. She began campaigning against violence against women after becoming a victim of stalking herself.

Choreographer Etta Murfitt will be made an MBE for services to dance after performing in Swan Lake, Cinderella and Nutcracker!