Two Sri Lankans honoured by British queen

October 14th, 2009 Buckingham Palace in London was immersed in Bollywood and Bhangra dances on October 13 evening when Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II of England hosted this maiden performance. Queen and Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, along with leading British-Indians, watched this 15-minute performance by five female and three male dancers in the lavish Palace Ballroom where once German composer-organist-conductor-pianist Felix Mendelssohn performed organ recitals for Queen Victoria.

September 11th, 2009 LAPD Chief Bratton honored by Queen of EnglandLOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton is being honored by the queen of England for his contributions to law enforcement. At a ceremony Friday in Washington, Bratton was named an Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

May 18th, 2009 LONDON - Music legend Sir Elton John was honoured for his contribution to musical theatre at the Annual Drama League Awards in New York. The singer received a special tribute during the ceremony for his work on hit stage shows including 'Aida', 'The Lion King' and 'Billy Elliot', which has been a major success since it opened on Broadway last year, reported contactmusic.com Other stars honoured at the ceremony included Angela Lansbury, currently appearing in the Broadway revival of 'Blithe Spirit', who was recognised for her unique contribution to theatre, and writer-director Arthur Laurents, the man behind the recent revivals of 'West Side Story' and 'Gypsy', who received the Julia Hansen Award for directing.

May 12th, 2009 LONDON - British singer Lily Allen dressed up as Queen Victoria for her latest performance. Her hair was covered in a grey wig in a bun style and she wore a flowing skirt, an ermine gown and a corset that was visible underneath her clothes for the performance here, reported dailymail.co.uk.

April 13th, 2009 LONDON - British actress Sienna Miller was polled in a men's magazine to be even less sexy than the queen. Miller dropped to 202 in the FHM list of Sexiest Women, thesun.co.uk reports.

March 8th, 2009 WELLINGTON - New Zealand's conservative government is restoring the traditional titles of Sir and Dame for men and women honoured by Queen Elizabeth, who remains head of state of the one-time British colony, Prime Minister John Key announced Sunday. The titles were abolished nine years ago by the former Labour government headed by Helen Clark, who dubbed them 'quaint trappings' of the independent country's past.

March 7th, 2009 LONDON - US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are expected to be received by Queen Elizabeth II during the Group of 20 (G20) summit in London next month, according to media reports Friday. The private visit is due to take place at Buckingham Palace before the start of the one-day summit of world leaders in London April 2.

March 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Queen Elizabeth II has decided to bestow honorary knighthood on longtime US Senator Edward Kennedy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Wednesday. Speaking before a joint session of Congress, Brown praised Kennedy for his efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland and expand health care to millions of Americans.

March 3rd, 2009 LONDON - British actress Emily Blunt read diaries and letters of Queen Victoria to prepare for her role in 'The Young Victoria'. Blunt was allowed into Windsor Castle and was allowed to look at the queen's personal notebooks and letters.

February 4th, 2009 LONDON - A gift shop owned by the British Queen in northeast England has withdrawn golliwog toys that they were found to be selling. Managers at the shop in the Queen Elizabeth II's Sandringham estate in Norfolk apologised and a spokesman said they 'did not intend to offend anyone.' The move followed the expulsion of journalist Carol Thatcher, daughter of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, from a popular BBC television show after she made an off-screen reference to a black tennis player as a 'golliwog'.

January 31st, 2009 DAVOS - Indian megastar Amitabh Bacchan was honoured with World Economic Forum's (WEF) Crystal Award here for his contribution to the world of art. Noted Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi dancer Mallika Sarabhai was also honoured Saturday along with Chinese martial artist and actor Jet Li and Venezuelan musician José Antonio Abreu.

December 30th, 2008 LONDON - A prominent multi-faith campaigner and a school headteacher lead a list of at least a dozen Indian-origin men and women named Wednesday in the British Queen's New Year's Honours List. Indarjit Singh, who heads the London-based Network of Sikh Organisations, and Tarun Kapur, executive headteacher, Ashton-on-Mersey and Broadoak Schools, Trafford, were both awarded the CBE, one of the highest honours in the annual list.

December 30th, 2008 LONDON - Indian actor Freida Pinto will be honoured at the 2009 Palm Springs Film Festival for her performance in Danny Boyle's film 'Slumdog Millionaire'. According to contactmusic.com, the 24-year-old actor will receive the honour at the 20th annual awards gala next month celebrating her first lead role after starting her career as a model and TV correspondent in her native Mumbai.

December 29th, 2008 LONDON - Hollywood star Sean Penn will be honoured at a California film festival for his portrayal as San Francisco's first openly gay elected official in the new film 'Milk'. According to contactmusic.com, the actor will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award at the 20th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival next month.

December 22nd, 2008 LONDON - A former butler to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was sentenced by a court in Manchester city Monday to at least six years in prison for child abuse. Paul Kidd was found guilty of abusing underaged boys and possessing more than 18,000 images of child pornography.