LONDON – Sweet dreams are made of this for Annie Lennox, honored by Queen Elizabeth II in the monarch’s New Year list of awards.
The statuesque Scottish singer who rose to fame with the Eurythmics in the 1980s was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for her work with charities fighting AIDS and poverty in Africa. She is an ambassador for the development group Oxfam and founded the SING campaign to help women and children with HIV.
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Lennox said she was “getting my fake leopard pillbox hat dusted and ready” for the Buckingham Palace investiture ceremony.
“As somewhat of a renegade, it either means I’ve done something terribly right — or they’ve done something terribly wrong,” she said.
Lennox, 56, is among several 1980s icons honored in today’s list. Fashion designer Katharine Hamnett, creator of that decade’s oversized “Choose Life” slogan T-shirts, and Grammy-winning music producer Trevor Horn, who honed the futuristic sound of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, were both named Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE.
Britain’s honors are bestowed twice a year by the monarch — at New Year’s and on her official birthday in June — but recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public.
Most of the honors go to people who are not in the limelight, for services to their community or industry, but they also are bestowed on a sprinkling of famous faces.
Actor David Suchet — best known for playing Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective Hercule Poirot on television — received a CBE, as did sculptor Richard Wentworth.
Queen’s first great-grandchild is 12th in line to throne
LONDON – Queen Elizabeth was delighted with the birth of her first great-grandchild, Buckingham Palace said Thursday.
Autumn Phillips, wife of the queen’s grandson, Peter Phillips, gave birth to a baby girl Wednesday, the palace said. The baby weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces.
The newborn is 12th in line to the throne, and the palace said her name will be released later. Peter Phillips was present at the birth, which took place at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
Peter Phillips, 33, the queen’s oldest grandchild, is the son of Princess Anne and her first husband, Mark Phillips. He and his sister, Zara Phillips, are among the most low-profile members of the royal family and hold no royal titles.
MTV moves Snooki stunt away from Times Square
NEW YORK – Turns out there wasn’t room for Snooki in Times Square this New Year’s Eve.
MTV’s plan to put “Jersey Shore” star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi inside a ball to drop from the network’s Times Square headquarters was killed after the group that oversees the world-famous celebration objected.
But Snooki will still drop in as part of “The MTV New Year’s Bash.” Her stunt has been relocated to Seaside Heights, N.J., said Diane Stabley, borough clerk for the Jersey shore town made famous as the setting for MTV’s hit reality show.
“Like the ball that drops in Times Square, there’s going to be a Snooki ball,” Stabley said Thursday. She said an MTV network crew was in town to pre-tape the spectacle Thursday night.
For Oprah, a wish denied
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s new governor won’t grant Oprah Winfrey a prison interview she’s been trying to get for a decade with a woman who drowned her two children.
Susan Smith is serving a life sentence for killing 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex in 1994 by strapping them into their car seats and driving the car into a pond. She has not been interviewed since being charged.
Winfrey suggested on Wednesday’s show that Gov.-elect Nikki Haley could change prison rules that prohibit media interviews. But Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey said Thursday that Winfrey won’t get her wish. He says Smith got enough attention when she originally claimed she was carjacked before the truth came out.
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