Colin Firth, the actor who won a string of accolades for his portrayal of King George VI, was awarded a CBE by the Prince Of Wales, the grandson of the monarch portrayed in the film.
Playing George VI's in The King's Speech earned Firth a Bafta, Gold Globe and most notably the Best Actor Oscar, and garnered huge critical acclaim for the film.
The 51-year-old chatted briefly to the prince after the presentation was made in Buckingham Palace's ballroom where the investiture ceremony was held.
But he declined to talk to waiting media before returning to his seat to watch other recipients receive their honours.
It was the sight of Firth emerging from a lake in a dripping wet shirt and britches during the BBC's Pride and Prejudice series that made him an instant heart-throb.
His role as the brooding hero Mr Darcy in 1995 caught the eye of a legion of female fans and film directors.
It was the part that defined him for many years although he tried to distance himself from it, saying it was "just another role".
Firth's parents were academics and as a child he spent time in Africa and America before the family settled in Winchester, Hampshire.
He is also a prominent political campaigner, though he publicly withdrew his support for the Liberal Democrats after the row over tuition fees.
The celebrity has been an demand as an actor since leaving the Drama Centre London where he learned his craft.
He was picked for a succession of television and theatre parts before his portrayal of Robert Lawrence in the TV production Tumbledown earned him a Royal Television Society Best Actor award.
After his groundbreaking role as Mr Darcy in the costume drama other parts followed in quick succession from a typical gentleman in The English Patient to a football-obsessed teacher in the film version of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch and an aristocrat in Shakespeare in Love.
Six years after first playing Mr Darcy he took on a character with the same name in the film Bridget Jones's Diary opposite Renee Zellweger.
He revealed another side to his personality when he showed of his vocal cords as banker Harry Bright in the Abba-themed movie musical Mamma Mia! and earned his first Bafta for his portrayal of a suicidal English college professor living in Los Angeles in A Single Man.
But his role as George VI, who battles a speech impediment with the help of Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush, captured the imagination of the movie-going public.
The father-of-three has already been recognised for his work on behalf of his wife's native Italy.
Firth, who married producer Livia Giuggioli in 1997, was made a Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity in 2005.
The actor also has a son from an earlier relationship with actress Meg Tilly.
During the ceremony Sir David Higgins - the man credited with ensuring the London 2012 Olympic venues were built on time and on budget - was knighted by the prince.
Sir David, a quiet, modest Australian, oversaw the enormous construction project during his time as chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and left his post in February last year.
During 2011 a host of venues were completed from the velodrome to the main stadium and aquatic centre.
Speaking about the knighthood Sir David told the Press Association: "It's a fantastic honour, I'm very privileged and I was delighted to see other members of the Olympic Delivery Authority receive honours as well.
"Everything I did was part of a large team and the most encouraging thing is to see what it does for the communities around the Games. I was really focused on regeneration and restoring communities and returning communities to prosperity."
Sir David was previously chief executive of Lend Lease, the construction firm responsible for the Sydney Olympics and the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, and left the ODA to become the chief executive of Network Rail.
Solicitor Mark Stephens, a media specialist partner with law firm Finers Stephens Innocent and a familiar face in television studios as a legal expert was made a CBE.
The lawyer has been described by the Law Society Gazette as, "the patron solicitor of previously lost causes".
In his role as a broadcaster Mr Stephens comments on a wide range of issues from super injunctions to defamation tourism.
In the past he has been involved in a number of high profile cases including the extradition battle of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
His CBE also recognised his role within the arts as he is chairman of the Contemporary Arts Society which develops public collections of contemporary art in the UK.
Mr Stephens said: "We like to think we can spot the geniuses of the future. We put modern, cutting edge work in regional collections across the country."
He added that much of his legal work dealt with human rights issues and that he had been successful in getting his cases heard at the European Court of Human Rights on important points of principle.
The lawyer said the prince enquired if he was involved in the Leveson Inquiry, which the solicitor is not.
Mr Stephens said: "He asked me about the Leveson inquiry and I told him I had won 11 phone hacking cases last week. (I've) kept my clients' profiles pretty low I've felt they've been intruded upon enough."
Robin Oake, a former chief constable and long-standing member of St John Ambulance received, an MBE from Charles for his work with the voluntary organisation.
The ex-senior police officer dedicated the honour to all those who work for St John and in memory of his son who was killed nine year ago.
Detective Constable Stephen Oake, was killed while attempting to arrest a suspected al Qaida terrorist in January 2003 in Greater Manchester. He was posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.
Mr Oake, 74, who now holds the honorary title of 'Bailiff of Eagle' for the order of St John after 54 years service with the charity said: "This is a great honour but it's for the people who do the work, so I dedicate it both to them and to Steve.
"He followed me into the police force and got killed, that was the downside of my life but my Christian faith has got me through."
As a trainee officer he had to complete a number of St John Ambulance first aid courses and continued his involvement with the organisation throughout his career, rising to the rank of chief constable of the Isle of Man police force after spells with the Met Police and Greater Manchester Police.
The 74-year-old who lives in Bicton Heath near Shrewsbury said: "The best rank is constable, the higher up you go the more paperwork there is.
"When I was chief constable one of the inspectors asked my wife 'does your husband keep intending to walk the streets?'.
"On Sunday we were up to our knees in mud at a motorcycle event (with St John). I've never felt as a boss you should be aloof, I've always felt a boss should help."
Major Alexander Turner, Irish Guards, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for exemplary leadership in Afghanistan.
The officer even managed to persuade a Taliban commander to clear his own improvised explosive devices (IED) after persuading him they were harming local farmers more than British troops.
The officer and his men were deployed to Helmand's Upper Gereshik Valley in October 2010 and after establishing a safe area encouraged locals to return.
Major Turner, 37, from Battersea, London said: "Negotiation is the way forward in any conflict, I always said I would talk to anyone who would talk to me."
He added after working through intermediaries for weeks he finally managed to talk to the Taliban commander: "I said to him these IED were killing more of the locals than me, a British soldier - for any people that's rotten.
"He pulled up, up to a dozen IEDs, we didn't see him do it but we found the holes in the ground, some quite close to where we had been patrolling.
"The prince asked me about the Taliban commander, I think he was the braver man, I really respect him for doing it, it could have meant death for him."
Among other servicemen honoured today were Chief Technician David Lowe, an RAF bomb disposal expert, awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for defusing countless devices during a six-month deployment to Afghanistan.
Warrant Officer Class 2 James Palmer, of the Royal Logistic Corps, received the Military Cross for running through Taliban fire to help save an injured Afghan soldier.