Sir Idris Elba was among several high-profile figures to receive honours from King Charles at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, in the New Year Honours list.

The 53-year-old actor, best known for The Wire and BBC drama Luther, was awarded a knighthood for services to young people. 

Elba launched the Elba Hope Foundation in 2022 to back community empowerment, education and youth advocacy. 

He first entered the arts after receiving a grant from what was then the Prince’s Trust to attend the National Youth Music Theatre at 18. 

Last year it was announced he will co-present a Netflix documentary with the King to mark 50 years of the charity, due this autumn.

Olympic ice dance legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were also knighted for services to ice skating and voluntary work.

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The pair won gold for Great Britain at the 1984 Winter Games with their iconic Bolero routine and later became the faces of ITV’s Dancing On Ice.

Dame Jayne, 68, said receiving the honour after their final tour last year felt "perfect." 

Jayne has served more than 20 years as an ambassador for a children’s hospice in the South East, while Sir Christopher, 67, works as head coach and mentor at the British Ice Skating Academy of Dance.

Actress and comedian Dame Meera Syal, 64, was made a dame for services to literature, drama and charity. 

Syal rose to fame writing and starring in BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me in the 1990s and later in The Kumars at No. 42. 

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and 2023 Bafta Fellowship recipient, she has been an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society since 2013 after her father’s dementia diagnosis. 

She also supports Kisharon, a charity for Jewish people with learning disabilities and autism.

Also honoured was Paul Elliott, 78, better known as Paul Chuckle of the Chuckle Brothers, who received a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for charitable service. 

The comedy duo’s BBC show ChuckleVision ran for nearly 300 episodes in the 1990s and 2000s with their "To me, to you" catchphrase. 

Elliott has long supported Marie Curie after its nurses cared for his late brother Barry at the end of his life.