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The 2026 King’s Birthday Honours celebrate people who have made achievements in public life and committed themselves to serving and helping the United Kingdom.

Published annually in June to mark the monarch’s official birthday, 1,182 individuals have been honoured this year, including seven alumni of St John’s College, Cambridge.

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Businessman appointed CVO for service to Royal Family

Sir Damon Buffini CVO, an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, has been personally appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) by His Majesty The King.

The Royal Victorian Order, established by Queen Victoria in 1896, is one of the UK’s most distinguished honours and is uniquely within the Sovereign’s gift to bestow in recognition of exceptional service to the Monarch or the Royal Household.

Sir Damon stepped down earlier this year as Chair of the Royal Anniversary Trust after a distinguished 12-year tenure which saw the award of 167 Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education – part of the UK national honours system recognising the highest level of state outstanding work in UK universities and colleges.

“I was hugely honoured to be made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the King’s Birthday Honours list. I was particularly delighted to receive the CVO as it related to my work in Chairing the Queen’s Prize for Education over a number of years,” said Sir Damon.  

“I am passionate about the power of education, the impact it has on so many people and its importance for the United Kingdom.

“My experience at St John’s was life-changing and in hindsight confirms that an excellent education can be a fantastic springboard regardless of social background or ethnicity.” 

Sir Damon graduated in Law from St John’s College in 1984 before going on to obtain an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was a founding partner and former Managing Partner of Permira and led the UK government’s £2 billion Cultural Recovery Fund during the Covid pandemic.

Knighted in 2016, Sir Damon has made a profound impact through his leadership and support for the arts and communities across the UK. The Buffini Chao Foundation he founded with Lady Debbie Buffini aims to help children and young people aspire to a better future by supporting a variety of organisations.

He is Chair of the National Theatre, BBC Commercial, and the Queen Elizabeth Trust – a new UK-wide charity which supports communities to restore and sustain shared spaces that bring people together from all walks of life.

Distinguished war veteran awarded CB

Major General Sam Humphris CB MBE has been appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) for his exceptional military service.

After becoming an Army officer in 1998, Maj Gen Humphris joined The Duke of Wellington's Regiment and went on to lead soldiers on operations in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

A long-serving member of The Royal Yorkshire Regiment, Maj Gen Humphris has spent nearly 30 years leading soldiers and teams across the British Army. He studied International Relations as a postgraduate at St John's in 2012 and is currently Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (People) at the Ministry of Defence, where he leads workforce strategy for the Armed Forces.

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Trade commissioner appointed CMG

Mr Martin Kent CMG, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific (HMTC), has been appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for his services to international trade and investment.

Mr Kent, who took Management Studies at St John’s, graduating in 2008, said: “I am extremely humbled to receive this honour. It is an enormous privilege to work with such inspirational and talented colleagues in the Civil Service every day and to lead the UK’s economic growth agenda across the Asia Pacific region.  

“Studying at St John’s gave me many life lessons and opportunities which have been instrumental on the path that has led me to this point.”

Mr Kent was appointed HMTC for Asia Pacific in September 2023. He joined from an interim posting as the Minister and Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy Tokyo after serving as a Director within the Department for Business and Trade. Before this, he was Deputy Trade Commissioner to Africa, based in the British Embassy Cairo.

He began his career at the Boston Consulting Group in London and worked mainly overseas with multinational companies, including extended periods in Australia and Singapore. He joined the Civil Service in 2015 as the Deputy Director for Global Operations at UK Trade and Investment.

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Wildlife vet receives MBE

Dr Becki Lawson MBE FRCVS, a wildlife vet and researcher at the Institute of Zoology (ZSL), becomes a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to wildlife health.

The honour recognises her 25 years of work dedicated to understanding diseases that affect wildlife and their impacts in the UK and beyond.

Dr Lawson took Veterinary Medicine at St John’s, first arriving at the College as an undergraduate in 1991. After leaving Cambridge, she completed an MSc in Wild Animal Health before joining ZSL in 2002, when she investigated an outbreak of seal distemper.  

She has since worked with various species, from critically endangered Caribbean frogs threatened by a deadly fungus, to researching the health of otters, birds and bats in the UK.  

“I am truly honoured to receive this recognition for services to wildlife health and feel very fortunate to have worked with so many dedicated colleagues through long-term collaborations in the field," said Dr Lawson.

Since 2013, she has focused on monitoring and protecting British garden birds, amphibians, reptiles and hedgehogs on a national scale through her work in the Garden Wildlife Health (GWH) project, combining scientific expertise with the power of citizen science to detect and respond to wildlife health threats.  

“It is thanks to my studies at St John’s, when I had the opportunity to combine veterinary medicine with a Part II Zoology, that I was first inspired to consider a veterinary career with non-domestic species. This experience, combined with the enthusiasm and support I received from a College supervisor with a strong interest in zoological medicine, led me on my career path to investigate threats to the welfare and conservation of free-living wildlife – with the goal to understand how these can be best mitigated in the future,” said Dr Lawson.

Over the last 13 years, she and the GWH team have used reports from members of the public to build a national database of wildlife disease, informed government policy and helped nature-lovers safeguard the health and welfare of wildlife in their gardens.

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Air ambulance pioneer made MBE

Dr Roderick Mackenzie MBE, former Medical Director of Magpas Air Ambulance, becomes a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to pre-hospital emergency medicine.

Dr Mackenzie, who completed his degree in Clinical Medicine at St John’s in 1995, joined Magpas Air Ambulance, based in Alconbury Weald in Cambridgeshire, as a volunteer doctor in the early 1990s and has helped shape the service into a nationally respected model of excellence.

He was critical to the formation of Cambridgeshire Community First Responder Scheme and to setting up the very first helicopter mission at Magpas, which flew in 1997 to a patient in Wisbech, with Dr Mackenzie as the serving doctor on board.

Dr Mackenzie is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Clinical Director of the East of England Major Trauma Centre at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. He co-created the first structured, nationally recognised Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine training course – developing the 10 themes that underpin today’s national curriculum – and jointly secured General Medical Council recognition for the specialty. Magpas is now the largest trainer of air ambulance doctors in the UK.

His contributions to the East of England major trauma project board also established the East of England Major Trauma Network as one of the first in the UK outside London, revolutionising care for thousands of major trauma patients.

Jewish interfaith consultant becomes MBE

Rabbi Norman Solomon MBE receives the honour of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the Jewish community and to interfaith relations.

Rabbi Solomon, who read Moral Sciences and Music as an undergraduate at St John’s from 1951-54, said: “The roots lay firmly in my student days most of a century ago at St John’s, when my mind was opened to modern thought and I became aware of the tensions generated by religious and ideological conflict. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to the work of healing.”

After graduating, he went on to gain a teaching diploma, a professional qualification from the Royal College of Music, a music degree and a Rabbinical Diploma from Jews’ College, London. He is now an interfaith consultant, scholar and author of nine books.

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Ex-CEO of retail giant receives OBE

Nicholas Wilkinson OBE, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dunelm, becomes an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the retail sector.

Mr Wilkinson, who took his BA degree in History at St John’s from 1984-1987, joined Dunelm in 2018, leading the company through the pandemic and overseeing seven years of growth at the homewares retail giant.

He said: “There’s little space for ego in modern retailing, so a personal award like this is gratefully received, but more reflects my good fortune to have been a part of some world class teams. My time at St John’s encouraged me to question the status quo. Adapting to changing times is best done with a curious mind.”

He was previously CEO at Evans Cycles having begun his career at Unilever followed by consultancy at McKinsey & Company.

With a lifelong passion for wild places, Mr Wilkinson is a Trustee of the charity Rewilding Britain. He is a former Trustee of Age UK and the Pennies Foundation.

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Thumbnail image: Ben Minnaar