Winslet and Barlow accept honours

ACTRESS Kate Winslet has been made a CBE for services to drama by The Queen at Buckingham Palace.

The Reading-born star said it was “a completely different kind of honour” to her 2009 Oscar for The Reader.

Singer Gary Barlow, who masterminded The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert in June, was made an OBE for services to the entertainment industry and charity. Violinist and Classical Brit winner Tasmin Little was made an OBE for services to music. Earlier this year she performed a duet with cartoon character Gromit as part of the BBC children’s prom at the Royal Albert Hall. Reading-born actress Winslet, who shot to worldwide fame in 1997 blockbuster Titanic, said there was “something incomparably overwhelming” about the day.

“The sense of gravity is enormous and you very much feel you are being acknowledged by the whole country in a way,” she said. Winslet revealed that she had discussed motherhood with The Queen as she collected her honour, after the Queen asked how much she enjoyed acting.

“I said yes, I liked it, but not as much as being a mother. She said, ‘It is the best job’,” the actress told reporters.

Winslet, 37, has a 12-year old daughter, Mia, with first husband Jim Threapleton and a son, Joe, with her second husband, Skyfall director Sam Mendes.

Take That star Barlow featured on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list just days after the Jubilee single Sing, which he penned with Andrew Lloyd Webber, topped the UK singles chart.

He also organised the Jubilee celebration concert at Buckingham Palace, which featured stars such as Sir Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue and Stevie Wonder. In a statement, the 41-year-old said he had been surprised to be awarded the OBE and that it “hadn’t seemed real until today”.