Queen's Birthday Honours: Jonathan Pryce is knighted

Actor Jonathan Pryce, who receives a knighthood, heads the Welsh recipients in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

The Flintshire-born 74-year-old has had a 50 year career and said he was "proud" to be honoured.

Other recipients include Sgt Michael Taggart MBE, from Rhyl, who helps domestic abuse victims after his mother was murdered by her partner.

Former NHS boss Tracy Myhill, handed an OBE, urged people to "dare to dream", after rising from a receptionist role.

Welsh rugby also features in the list of recipients, with Grand Slam captain Ryan Jones made an MBE for services to charity and rugby, and former WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips given the same award for his contribution to the sport.

Pryce, from Carmel near Holywell, has played Hamlet, acted on Broadway, and in a long list of films, including Terry Gilliam's black comedy Brazil in 1985, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Two Popes, alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins.

"That the UK continues to honour those that work in the arts, acknowledges the great contribution artists make to the way we live our lives," he said.

"When I began work at The Liverpool Everyman under Alan Dosser in 1972, I saw theatre as an implement of change - to entertain and to inform.

"The arts remind people to be kinder, more understanding, questioning and to be more empathetic."

Pryce said they also teach people "the importance of debate and tolerance", with the "last few divisive years" showing the need for that more than ever.

"After almost 50 years as an actor, I am proud to think that the work and ideals that I have shared with my friends and colleagues is being honoured in this way," he added.

North Wales Police's strategic domestic abuse officer Michael Taggart said his MBE was "somewhat bittersweet".

He was just 15 when his mother Donna Crist was brutally murdered in August 1997 by her husband.

She had suffered years of domestic abuse before being killed in her flat in Rhyl, Denbighshire.

"Although mum is not here, she's obviously here in spirit, but I'm sure she would be very proud," he said.

His award for services to victims of domestic abuse is for supporting "the most vulnerable", encouraging those who would have remained silent to speak out against the perpetrators.

During the pandemic, he organised a campaign to reach out to potential victims in lockdown, involving partnership working with commercial businesses, such as Tesco's home delivery service, food banks and pharmacies across north Wales.

"To every receptionist out there, I say you too can achieve anything you dare to dream of," were Tracy Myhill's words of wisdom.

She started her NHS career in that role for Cardiff's Dental Hospital in 1984 - but worked her way up to board level roles, and held a number of senior positions in Wales, before retiring as chief executive of the Swansea Bay University Health Board last December.

She held the same position with the Welsh Ambulance Service between 2014 and 2018, and her OBE is in recognition of services to the NHS in Wales.

"I've been so privileged to have had such an extraordinary and rewarding career - from receptionist to chief executive - working with so many exceptional and inspirational people," she said.

"I have been, and remain, passionate about improving the health of the population and health services for the people of Wales and whilst now retired from the NHS, I remain dedicated to supporting people and organisations to be the best they can be."

Personal tragedy has also driven on South Wales Police's force advisor on mental health, Peter Thomas, who has been made an MBE for services to policing.

"In 2001 I lost my son Jonathan, who was studying to become a doctor at the medical school in Cardiff. He had mental health issues and he took his own life," he said.

"It made me realise that if you can reach someone before they become seriously unwell, it can help save them and make a difference. That has driven me on."

Peter was a police officer for 30 years before taking on his current role in 2009 and said he was "humbled" to receive it.

He helped set up a mental health triage service in 2019, with nurse practitioners working with officers to help people in mental health crisis or distress.

The man who helped deliver a purpose-built centre at Llandough, Vale of Glamorgan, has been awarded an MBE for services to breast cancer.

It opened in 2010 and consultant oncoplastic surgeon Sumit Goyal, 55, said he was "humbled" by the recognition.

"We provide a one-stop clinic under one roof and the advantage of that is it not only gives the patients all the information they need and diagnosis is done at the centre, but it's done quickly," he said.

"Before that it would be a mammogram, a wait for a couple of weeks and the whole process was stretched.

"Now they can do it within a few hours and all under one roof."

However, he said the award was for "the team here" and not just him, adding: "I don't provide the services alone. It is the clinicians, the nurses, the admin staff who provide the service.

"It's the charitable committee which steers the direction of the fundraising. It's our patients and volunteers who raise the money for us. It's basically an award for all these people. "

Many of the awards were in recognition of people's contribution during the pandemic.

Sharon Ann Thomas, from Bridgend, was made an MBE for services to children and young people, after dedicating "many years to providing a high level of care" to those placed with her.

"During the Covid-19 pandemic, Sharon went above and beyond by making herself and her home available to care for the most vulnerable, in difficult circumstances, and always with the interests of children at heart," Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said.

Susan Trevor, of Chirk, Wrexham, also received an MBE, for services to healthcare charities, with the story of her fundraising for the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital in Oswestry described as "an inspiring one".

Sarah Caul, from Cardiff, has also been given an MBE for services to health statistics after carrying out "vital work" during the coronavirus pandemic for the Office for National Statistics

"Sarah's delivery of key data has enabled policy makers and health service planners to manage the pandemic, and her 'Weekly Deaths' publication has become the definitive statistics for Covid-19," was how her contribution was described.

Cardiff councillor Dianne Elizabeth Rees also gets an MBE for services to political and public life.

Sophie Andreae, an architecture historian and author, who has spent her career working to protect historic buildings and promote them to the wider public has been made a CBE for services to heritage.

Nigel Vernon Short, from Whitland, Carmarthenshire, is given the same award for services to the economy in west Wales, Myer Glickman an OBE for services to health analysis and Professor Helen James an OBE for services to higher education.

BBC Radio Wales' Beverley Humphreys becomes an MBE for services to community cohesion and broadcasting.

A number of people were also awarded British Empire Medals - these included Tracy Baker, from Port Talbot, for services to organ donation and disability sport, John Anderson from Llanelli for services to transport during Covid-19 and Susan Rees from Pembrokeshire for services to healthcare.

Rhys Mallows, 25, also received the honour after repurposing his whiskey distillery in the Vale of Glamorgan to make hand sanitizers during the pandemic.

Andy Swinburn, the Welsh Ambulance Service's associate director of paramedicine and Sue Owen-Williams, a nurse advisor for NHS 111 Wales, have been awarded the Queen's Ambulance Service Medal.

Sue, who is based in Bangor, Gwynedd, has raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities through a series of gruelling walks, including Cancer Research UK's Shine Night Walk and nine of Walk the Walk charity's MoonWalks.