Singer and presenter Cerys Matthews paid tribute to her family as she received an OBE.
Matthews, from Cardiff, was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to music and received her medal from the Prince of Wales. The 57-year-old hosts a weekly Sunday radio show and was a founding member of the Welsh rock band Catatonia, which shot to fame during the Cool Cymru movement of the 1990s. Many people also know her voice from her 1999 version of Baby It's Cold Outside, sung with Sir Tom Jones, which is heard each Christmas.
Speaking after the ceremony, Matthews said she accepted the honor in memory of her family and "in gratitude of the freedoms I have as a female in this era." She wore Black Watch tartan, the Scottish royal regimental tartan, in memory of her grandfather Oswald, who served in the Second World War and took part in the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy in 1944.
She said her grandmother, Olive, did not have the freedom to pursue music because of economic and social barriers as a young, working-class wartime bride. "I'm here in their memory," Matthews said.
"I grew up in the 80s and 90s as a female who loved music, and I've been allowed, and I've thrived, in the music industry," she said. "Sharing other people's music and making my own, and I accept this honor in their memory, and in gratitude of the freedoms I have as a female in this era. This positive change, I hope it continues across the world."
Matthews said Prince William discussed Catatonia with her after the ceremony and that he was "evidently" a fan.
Techno DJ Carl Cox also received an OBE for services to music. Born in Manchester, he has been a major figure in the British dance music scene for more than four decades. "By next year, I would have been putting needle on the record for 50 years," the 64-year-old said. "So it's quite a thing to be able to still keep doing something, even at my time of my life as a 64-year-old man."
