There is even a small "business as usual" gesture towards the banking community, conspicuously absent during the bust-and-bonus years. Brooke Kinsella, the EastEnders actor who campaigns against knife crime after the murder of her brother, also gets an MBE.
With Whitehall determined in recent years to steer the honours system away from showbusiness glamour and questionable awards to major political donors, the Cabinet Office again stressed it was recognising "a large number of people including those supporting the big society by making a real difference to their local community through volunteering, fundraising, social action and philanthropy".
Ethnic minorities have a 7. There is even a section for "amazing Brits abroad", such as the knighthood for Dr George Buckley, chairman and chief executive of the US firm 3M — whose products include the yellow Post-it note.
This article is more than 10 years old. But for some reason she seems not to be amused by Bruce Forsyth's soft-shoe shuffle and cheesy patter.
For, while sliding down a hill very quickly was enough to win Amy Williams an MBE for services to sport — she won gold on the skeleton in this year's Winter Olympics — a lifetime in entertainment, and presenting one of TV's most popular shows at the age of 82, doesn't warrant a knighthood.
Politicians and showbusiness stars yesterday expressed their dismay that Brucie has once again been overlooked, despite a long-standing campaign to honour the veteran television host's year career. True, his schtick lacks the post-ironic flourish of some younger, less polished pretenders. And there's a whiff of the unreconstructed around some of his gags. But if you open an encyclopaedia and look up National Treasure, there he'll be; smile glinting out of the page. All of which makes it hard to fathom why — when Vicki Michelle, who starred in the s' television comedy 'Allo 'Allo, was awarded an MBE, and actress Catherine Zeta-Jones a CBE — Forsyth, and the 25, people who signed a Facebook campaign to see him knighted, are still denied.
He's also done a lot for charity The chief executive of Channel 5, Dawn Airey, said that "it was odd" that Brucie had missed out again. Honours are about a body of work and it's very hard to see who can beat him. The smell of success is as immediate as the scent of freshly cut grass, which is to be expected, given this is the home of a man who has hosted a succession of the biggest shows on British television, is married to a former Miss World and has the medals — an OBE, CBE and now a knighthood — to show for a year career in showbusiness.
Given all the visible evidence of his extraordinary life, it is a surprise, then, to discover that at the grand old age of 83, Sir Bruce Forsyth still needs affirmation that he did indeed do well. But even after 83 years you need a boost now and again. The knighthood has definitely given me a boost. A lot of people feel they were part of it, that they helped to make it happen.
One newspaper headline once described me as "The most important man in television". I'd like to have used my power to do other shows,' said Bruce. Up close, he is remarkably well-maintained for his years — alert, clear-eyed and whippet-slim thanks to a strict regime of early-morning exercise, golf and healthy eating. His work schedule and stamina levels during filming of Strictly Come Dancing are nothing short of remarkable. On the knighthood: 'A lot of people feel they were part of it, that they helped to make it happen'.
So I suggested Simon worked out the schedules with his mother. I wonder, after so long in the business, if he still gets nervous? I like to get in my own little meditation. Then I do a little hop before I walk on and the other me takes over. And how different is the consummate showman who glides on to the set to the real Bruce Forsyth? He is much more gregarious, much more over the top than I am normally.
I have to put him in a little box to get rid of him. But there is another reason for the added spring in his famously twinkled toes, and that is the imminent release of his first album in years. I often play it if I want a bit of a boost. It was this career-altering turn of events that brought him into contact with major American stars such as Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr and his musical idol, Nat King Cole. I was staggered because the recording was so clear that it can only have come from the production van parked outside the theatre for our live show at the Palladium in Bruce wants to show me his office.
We pass through his sun-drenched living room, with its thick carpet and baby grand piano on which three prominent trophies are displayed — a lifetime achievement Bafta and a pair of National Television Awards statuettes.
He says the failure of his first marriage, to dancer Penny Calvert, was down to his prodigious appetite for work.
Then there were the doomed affairs, with Ann Sidney, a year-old hairdresser who would become Miss World, and Kathy Kirby, a voluptuous blonde singer. Bruce and Wilnelia met in when both were on the judging panel for the Miss World contest at the Royal Albert Hall.
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