Emilia Clarke: Game of Thrones Star and Her Mother Receive MBEs

At Windsor Castle, Emilia Clarke, who is well-known for her role in the fantasy series Game of Thrones, and her mother were presented with MBEs by Prince William.

The two were recognized for their services to those with brain injuries in the New Year's Honours list.

After experiencing two brain hemorrhages in her 20s, Emilia and her mother Jenny founded the SameYou charity in 2019.

The actress added in a post-event statement that she had received "such a rush of energy and momentum" from the prize.

Soon after the first season of Game of Thrones wrapped up in 2011, Emilia suffered her first hemorrhage. Two years later was the second.

In December, she told BBC News that, aside from exhaustion, it was "a wonder" that she was here to discuss the experience.

Emilia also remembered learning that brain damage victims received insufficient care and rehabilitation after they were discharged from the hospital.

Jenny is the CEO of SameYou, an organization that works to improve mental health recovery services and alter that.

Running a charity "is one of the hardest things I've had to do," Emilia told the PA news agency on Wednesday, adding that she was spurred on by the memory of feeling "ill-equipped to be a normal person" after surviving her haemorrhages.

She expressed her happiness at receiving an MBE and stated she had "underestimated the magical quality" of the awarding procedure.

Emilia also complimented Jenny and William, Prince of Wales, the investiture leader, on making them feel at ease.

"I thought she was going to ask him to be on the board of trustees, but she didn't," Emilia joked about her mother.

Jenny added: "I nearly did."

At the ceremony, former chancellor Sir Sajid Javid and founder of JD Wetherspoon, Sir Tim Martin, were knighted alongside Emilia and Jenny.

Additional honorees on Wednesday were director Betsy Gregory, who received an OBE for her contributions to dance, Lydia Otter, who gives autistic people work experience on her family's Wiltshire beef farm, and Labour MP Dame Siobhain McDonagh.

At Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, or the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland, honors are usually given out by the King, Prince of Wales, or Princess Royal.

The venue and date of the investiture are up to the recipients; the king presiding over the event is not.