Royal honors for Apple designer, Helena Bonham Carter

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive, author Penelope Lively and actress Helena Bonham Carter are among the latest British citizens to be named knights, dames and Commanders of the Order of the British Empire.

The Cabinet Office announces knighthoods and damehoods, along with lesser titles such as Commander, Officer or Member of the Order of the British Empire (CBE, OBE, MBE), twice a year – around the new year and in mid-June on the date of the Queen's official birthday – according to BBC News. Government officials draw up the list, considering individuals nominated by the public, and the Queen approves it, according to Reuters.

There are 984 honorees on this year’s New Year’s Honors list, including 27 knights, the Guardian reported.

"The vast majority of people recognized include those supporting the big society by making a real difference to their local community through volunteering, fundraising, social action and philanthropy,” the Cabinet Office said in a statement, according to the Guardian.

Ive, 44, is the visionary designer behind the look of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, the Silicon Valley Mercury News reported.

“I am keenly aware that I benefit from a wonderful tradition in the UK of designing and making,'' Ive said in a statement today, the Silicon Valley Mercury News reported. "To be recognized with this honor is absolutely thrilling and I am both humbled and sincerely grateful. I discovered at an early age that all I've ever wanted to do is design. I feel enormously fortunate that I continue to be able to design and make products with a truly remarkable group of people here at Apple."

Lively, 78, won the Booker Prize for her 1987 novel Moon Tiger, Reuters reported.

Other notable new knights: Peter “Baz” Bazalgette, the producer who brought reality show “Big Brother” to television in 2000; diabetes expert Stephen Bloom; and Royal Opera House Conductor Antonio Pappano.

Actress Helena Bonham-Carter will receive the CBE title, one rank lower than dame, and Northern Irish golfer Darren Clarke, who won the most recent British Open on his 20th attempt, will receive an OBE, Reuters reported.

Not all new knights were cheered. Labor’s Michael Dugher, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, criticized the selection of hedge-fund executive and Tory donor Paul Ruddock. He told the Guardian, "David Cameron promised to clean up politics, but in office he has shown he is utterly out of touch with decent British people. He's giving a knighthood to Paul Ruddock, who made millions from the collapse of Northern Rock and has given over half a million pounds to the Tories.”

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