Don McCullin becomes the first-ever photographer to win this top British honor, held by only 65 people

GCAB0H Photographer Don McCullin stands in front of one of his photographs on display in the Shaped by War exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester. — Don McCullin in 2001 next to his image ‘A woman and child waiting for medical attention’ taken by him in Bangladesh in 1971. (Image credit: Alamy)

Sir Don McCullin has been given one of Britain's highest civilian honors in a list of new awards released to celebrate King Charles III's birthday. The celebrated photojournalist, who is now 90 years old, has been named a Companion of Honour for services to photography.

The Order of the Companions of Honour was initiated by King George V in 1917 and is one of the rarest honours in the United Kingdom, as it is only held by a maximum of 65 people at one time.

Nowadays, the honour is awarded to those who have made a "major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time". Other living holders of the title include Sir David Attenborough, Sir Elton John, and Dame Anna Wintour. The actress Helen Mirren was named alongside Don McCullin as the 389th and 380th people to ever have received the title. A further vacancy in the Order was created with the recent death of the artist David Hockney.

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3DR4DJ8 Britain's Queen Camilla speaks to Don McCullin as she visits Holburne Museum to view their new exhibitions, featuring photographs taken by Don McCullin in Bath, England, Feb. 17, 2026.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool) — Don McCullin showing Queen Camilla around an exhibition of his work in Bath earlier this year (Image credit: Alamy)

Don McCullin was knighted back in 2017 and is best known for his harrowing images of confilct and famine around the world, which he shot for the Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s and 1970s.

Last week, it was announced that a new book of his photographs of the Vietnam war, including many that have never been published before, will be published later this year.

Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography.

His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Sony A7 IV, alongside his old Nikon D800 and his iPhone 15 Pro Max.

He is the author of a number of books including The Book of Digital Photography, which has been translated into a dozen different languages.

In addition to his expertise in photography and videomaking, he has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.