looked radiant as she collected an MBE from at her investiture ceremony at today, dedicating it to victims of abuse.
The former , 46, in the New Year’s Honours list in January for her services to charitable causes and vulnerable women.
In 2018, she became a , after she was allegedly the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her former partner Stephen Belafonte – claims which Stephen denies.
The star ended her marriage to Stephen, 46, in 2017 after during their 10-year union.
Collecting her honour today, Mel looked sensational in a pillar box-red dress, with capped sleeves, and was joined by her mother Andrea Brown, who looked equally stylish in a white dress with gold high heels.
Adorning her brown, curly hair, she wore a red feather-decorated headband. On her feet, she wore a pair of high-heeled white shoes, alongside a fashionable chunky chain-style necklace and bracelet combination.
To abide by royal protocol, she curtseyed before she met Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, while greeting him warmly and smiling widely when she was awarded her MBE lapel badge.
Speaking to the PA news agency after collecting her MBE, she said the experience was ‘absolutely lovely’, and shared how it was for ‘all those other women’ affected by violence.
‘I never thought I would be here getting this MBE for the work I’ve been doing,’ she said.
‘It’s amazing to have but it’s not just for me – it’s for all those other women.
‘Especially because of Covid, there’s been such an epidemic of domestic violence, that’s been completely on the rise, and you know I’ve got an army of women behind me that need help and need to be heard.
‘So I’m their voice because we’ve all been through exactly the same story, so I don’t take it as it’s my award because it’s our award because we’ve survived.’
Other famous faces awarded for their services to the country included Roy Hodgeson, Simon Mayo, Ruth Wilson, Chris Ryan and Thomas Young.
Mel has campaigned bravely for the rights of domestic abuse victims, and in 2019, she took her campaign to Downing Street.
In May 2021, to highlight the reality of domestic abuse, which saw her team up with Women’s Aid charity Love Should Not Hurt (A Flat Minor), which featured music by the composer Fabio D’Andrea.
Difficult scenes of abuse were shown from the start, with the Wannabe singer trying to escape the house before being pulled back and thrown to the floor by her partner.
In order to illustrate how abusers can change their behaviour in public, the couple was then shown at a party with friends, where the abusive partner appears to be the model boyfriend.
In February, the star revealed how she would frequently wake up five years after the relationship ended.
Mel revealed that while she has tried to block out the memories, they come back as flashbacks at night, causing her to lose sleep.
She told : ‘Nearly five years on I still wake up in the early hours with terrifying fragments of sounds and images flitting into my brain.
‘Things I’ve tried to block float to the surface — things that can still make me feel drenched in shame, sweat and fear.’
Today’s ceremony was the first major investment at Buckingham Palace for two years since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
The palace has been undergoing a 10-year £369million renovation project to update essential services, but work has been paused for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
