The former Play School presenter is among the first two black women to be granted the prestigious honour – a personal gift of the monarch
Floella Benjamin and former nurse Dame Elizabeth Anionwu have become the first two black women to become members of the prestigious Order of Merit.
They are among six notable figures personally chosen by Queen Elizabeth II as her final honours.
The others named by Her Majesty in early September, just days before she died, are Sir David Adjaye, a leading architect; Sir Paul Nurse, the geneticist and cell biologist; Dr Venki Ramakrishnan, a molecular biologist, and Margaret MacMillan, Canadian historian.
Created in 1902 by Edward VII, the Order of Merit is the personal gift of the monarch.