Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on Friday, while authorities who pioneered Britain’s fight against Covid-19 were also honored in the traditional New Year’s Honours.
Blair was made a Knight Companion of the Noblest Honor of the Garter, the highest order of knighthood, by the Queen personally. She did the same thing in 2005 when she knighted former Conservative Prime Minister John Major.
Blair, now 68, defeated Major with a landslide Labour victory in 1997 and spent a decade in office.
His successes included securing peace in Northern Ireland and massively expanding gay rights. But he was widely reviled at home for his support for the 2003 US-led war in Iraq.
