Game of Thrones Star Emilia Clarke and Mother To Receive British MBE Honors on New Year’s

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke and her mother, Jenny Clarke, are being honored with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the UK’s New Year’s Honours List. According to Deadline, Clarke and her mother received the honor for their work setting up a charity, SameYou, to support people dealing with brain injuries. Clarke herself suffered two brain hemorrhages in 2011 and 2013. The experience revealed to Clarke just how little aftercare support was available, thus inspiring the charity.

“In hospital, every day you’re told you’re going to die. Every day you’re watched like a hawk, especially in a brain ward,” Clarke said. “You’re woken up every two hours. It’s this high-stakes scenario. And then three weeks to a month later, you’re let out. I was fine, but I was so terrified to suddenly be at home, and I was at home with a loving family. That’s not [the same for] everyone, and the fear that you’re left with…”

She added, “Then, when I had my second brain hemorrhage, I was like, I’ve got to do something big. Looking at the fact that I’ve survived two of these with no repercussions — I’m here for a reason, let me do something about it. That was when we started circling around the idea of creating a charity.”

Clarke first revealed her illness in a 2019 New Yorker article, revealing that the illness almost forced her to quit Game of Thrones after she suffered her first subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a rare condition in which about a third of the patients die and those who do survive, require urgent treatment, in 2011 after the first season of the HBO series.

“I remember being told that I should sign a release form for surgery. Brain surgery? I was in the middle of my very busy life — I had no time for brain surgery,” she wrote. “For the next three hours, surgeons went about repairing my brain. This would not be my last surgery, and it would not be the worst. I was twenty-four years old.”

Clarke revealed that, after filming Season 3, she learned she had to have another surgery, which ultimately resulted in parts of her skull having to be replaced with titanium. Clarke also wrote that she’s since recovered.

“Beyond my work as an actor, I’ve decided to throw myself into a charity I’ve helped develop in conjunction with partners in the U.K. and the U.S. It is called SameYou, and it aims to provide treatment for people recovering from brain injuries and stroke. I feel endless gratitude — to my mum and brother, to my doctors and nurses, to my friends. Every day, I miss my father, who died of cancer in 2016, and I can never thank him enough for holding my hand to the very end.”

What Is the New Year’s Honours List?

According to the U.K. government, “The New Year Honours List for 2024 recognizes the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the U.K.” The system recognizes those who have made achievements in public life and/or committed themselves to serving and helping the U.K. In addition to Clarke and her mother, the list also includes Alien and Gladiator filmmaker Ridley Scott, who is being made Knight Grand Cross for his services to the U.K. film industry. He was previously awarded a knighthood in 2002.