Stars of the BBC comedy Blackadder, Tony Robinson and Rowan Atkinson, are among those receiving titles in the Queen’s birthday honours, while singer Adele is awarded an MBE.
Mr Robinson, famed for his role as long-suffering Baldrick in the Blackadder series, vowed to slaughter dragons and rescue damsels in distress as he was knighted.
The 66-year-old said he was “thrilled, flattered and a little gobsmacked” to get the honour.
His Blackadder co-star Rowan Atkinson said his CBE came as a “genuine surprise and is a great honour”.
Skyfall singer Adele adds an MBE to her fast-growing collection of awards which also include Brit Awards, Grammys, and most recently an Oscar for her James Bond song.
MBEs also go to singer-songwriter PJ Harvey and singer and broadcaster Aled Jones, comedian Rob Brydon, who said he accepted the honour “for short Welshmen everywhere”, and also to actor, director and playwright David Haig and Chocolat author Joanne Harris.
Individuals involved in the preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games were also honoured including sculptor Anish Kapoor, designer of the 115m ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture and observation tower in the Olympic Park, who receives a knighthood.
Sports presenter Clare Balding, widely praised for her coverage of London’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, described her OBE as the “pinnacle” of a “year of unexpected delights”.
The OBE is also given to Wendy Parry, whose son Tim, 12, was killed alongside three-year-old Johnathan Ball in the Warrington Bombing on 20 March 1993.
Everything we have done in the past has been to keep Tim and Johnathan’s names alive Wendy Parry OBE
Mrs Parry, who set up the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace with husband Colin, is awarded the OBE in the year that marks the 20th anniversary of her son’s death.
She said: “Everything we have done in the past has been to keep Tim and Johnathan’s names alive. This could be another thing that will help do that.”
In politics, a Companion of Honour goes to former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell, while knighthoods go to Gainsborough MP Edward Leigh, Hazel Grove MP Andrew Stunell, and to Stephen Houghton, leader of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.
Also recognised is Robert Collington, the operations director of the UK’s Thames Water’s executive team, which was revealed last week to have paid no corporation tax this financial year.
Mr Collington, who is one of eight directors, becomes an OBE for “services to consumers” in London and the Thames Valley area, “particularly during drought”.
The firm made £549m in underlying pre-tax profits, hiking bills by an inflation-busting 6.7 per cent, while customer satisfaction dipped and hundreds saw their homes flooded by sewage.
Conservative party donor Michael Hintze, Member of the Order of Australia, was also among those to be given a knighthood, for services to the Arts.
The hedge fund tycoon and philanthropist has given more than £1.2m to the party and attended David Cameron’s post-election “thank you” dinner in 2010, the Tories have previously revealed.