by Dollita Okine, Face2FaceAfrica.com
King Charles held an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on June 2, where he honored several high-profile figures, including actor Sir Idris Elba. The 53-year-old star, best known for his roles in Luther and US crime series The Wire, has been knighted in the New Year Honours for services to young people.
Elba was knighted in the New Year’s Honours list for 2026 by King Charles, and the moment was made official at the investiture ceremony.
Only King Charles, Princess Anne, and Prince William preside over the ceremonies, presenting knighthoods, damehoods, and other awards after lists of those being honored are announced twice a year.
The 77-year-old monarch did the honors, tapping a sword on the star’s shoulders as he knelt, with a photo of the moment making the royal family’s official Instagram grid, according to the BBC.
“Congratulations to everyone who received honours at today’s Investiture ceremonies, hosted by The King at Windsor Castle,” courtiers captioned the carousel, which Elba reposted on his own Instagram Stories.
“We are thankful. The work continues,” The Wire alum wrote over another photo that showed him sporting his medal and holding hands with his wife, Sabrina Elba, at the castle grounds.
The star tagged the handles for Sabrina’s Instagram and the Elba Hope Foundation, the charity the couple co-founded in 2022 to support diaspora communities and create greater opportunities.
In 2022, Sir Idris founded the Elba Hope Foundation, an organization focused on community empowerment, education, youth advocacy, and sustainable development.
It was announced last year that the Luther star and the King would work together on a Netflix documentary commemorating the charity’s 50th anniversary of its founding, which is set to debut this autumn.
Speaking to People exclusively at the Hijack season 2 screening in January, Elba admitted the accolade was still sinking in.
“I haven’t really spoken about it, but I will say that it’s a real honor to be recognized for the work,” he said at the time. “Especially trying to make as much noise for young people and the things that some of them are going through. So it feels like an honor. My family is honored by it. I don’t even know how to talk about it.”
Elba and the King surprised everyone recently by jumping behind the DJ booth at a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London on May 14. The event was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the King’s Trust.
“It was the 50th year of The King’s Trust, who I work with sometimes. One of our programs, Elba Hope and The King’s Trust, we had this DJ that I trained. He’d done one of my courses, and he was DJing. King Charles came over, and he wanted to do a back-to-back, so he got on,” the star told People earlier this month at the Los Angeles premiere of his upcoming film, Masters of the Universe.
Elba first joked that his brush with royalty was “alright” before correcting himself to say it was “amazing” to DJ alongside the King.
Since its founding as The Prince’s Trust in 1976 by the future King Charles, the King’s Trust has assisted over a million young people by providing them with the skills they need to thrive.
Notably, at the age of 18, Elba attended the National Youth Music Theatre with a grant from the Prince’s Trust, now known as the King’s Trust.
Elba, a multi-hyphenate entertainer, is also a Goodwill Ambassador for The King’s Trust and has credited the grant he received from the royal charity for helping him get started in the arts.
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