King Charles elevates British Indian medic among top personal honours

King Charles elevates British Indian medic among top personal honours

London: Britain’s King Charles III on Tuesday unveiled a set of top royal honours, elevating senior British Indian medic Lord Ajay Kumar Kakkar and musician Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber as his new Knight Companions of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

Lord Kakkar, 59, has been chosen for one of the country’s oldest ceremonial orders in the gift of the British monarch to honour outstanding public service and achievement, made without prime ministerial advice as is the case with other annual royal honours.

The 75-year-old monarch, who has cut back on his public-facing duties while undergoing cancer treatment, has expanded the number of his royal companions to 21 – out of a maximum of 24 – with the latest set of additions.

“Ajay Kumar Kakkar, Baron Kakkar of Loxbeare, studied medicine at King’s College London before receiving his PhD from Imperial College London, and has focused his medical career on the prevention and treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolic disease, and cancer associated thrombosis,” reads a citation issued with the announcement by Buckingham Palace.

“Lord Kakkar is the president of Thrombosis Research Institute, chairman of King’s Health Partners and chairman of The King’s Fund, a charitable healthcare organisation of which His Majesty (King Charles), when Prince of Wales, served as president. He is also the chairman of the Royal Commission for the 1851 Great Exhibition and of UK Biobank,” it notes.

In the 2022 New Year Honours conferred by Charles’ mother – the late Queen Elizabeth II, Kakkar was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for services to healthcare and public service.

Among other highlights of his distinguished career include being elected Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1992, serving as Chair of the House of Lords Appointments Commission (2013-2018) and the Judicial Appointments Commission (2016-2022). Since last year, Kakkar has been Chancellor of the University of Lincoln and is also an Emeritus Professor of Surgery at University College London.

“Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lord-Webber of Sydmonton, is the UK’s most successful living composer, having written the scores of some of the world’s most famous musicals – including ‘Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Cats’, ‘Evita’ and ‘Sunset Boulevard’. He is one of the select group of globally-renowned artists who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award,” reads the citation of Lord Webber, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1992.