The 2000 people named in the Queen's millennium New Year honours list kicked off a great start to a decade which saw many Britain's publicly recognised for their contributions to Britain. Her Majesty the Queen chose to mark the start of the new Millennium by recognising a list of 2000 people in the New Year announcement; officially honouring captains of industry, stars of entertainment and sport, and ordinary people rewarded for years of loyal public service.
The highest honour bestowed is that of The Most Noble Order of the Garte, which allows its recipients to prefix their name with the salutation of Sir. Notable Knighthoods in the Millennium list included: Richard Branson, for services to Entrepreneurship based on the success of his Virgin business; John Brown, for services to Ship Design the last Century; Sean Connery, for services to British film and theatre; Jeremy Dixon, for services to Architecture; and Bruce Liddington, the headteacher of Northampton School for Boys, for services to education.
A number of other honours are given to those who have shown exemplary levels of service to Britain, and its commonwealth countries. CBE, OBE, and MBE honours were given to: Francis James Auton, for services to the Air Bridge Association; Mrs Agnes Mae Barr, for her charitable work overseas and services to British communities; Dewi Blythin, for her dedication and services to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Miss Marjorie Clements, for services to the local Argentinian community; Mrs Rosemary Cordan, for services to the Instanbul community; Miss Kathleen Anne Dakin, for services to the local community in Indonesia; Jonathan Danos, for services to the British export industry within South and Central America; The Reverend Capt Richard Geoffrey Colin Diamond, British Honorary Consular Representative, Mombasa; and Mrs Gladys Ethel Fischer, for services to the Heidelberg community.
Honours are given to those who reside in Britain, or one of the many British Commonwealth countries. Even though it is mostly the celebrities who are honoured we read about in the mainstream press, there are a number of other notable people who do not have celebrity status that are honoured every year. These people usually have made an invaluable contribution to the British economy or their local communities, either through business, charity, or bravery. Businessmen and women are honoured because their long standing service to their industry has helped shape and support the growing economy, ensuring that Great Britain's place within the world marketplace is secure.