Red Bull’s Formula 1 boss Christian Horner was supported by his Spice Girl wife Geri today as he was honoured by King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
Horner, 51, was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours list for his services to motorsport – and was among those officially receiving an award at the Palace today.
It comes after the couple put on a very smitten display during the FIA Awards in Kigali, Rwanda, last Friday – hours after she declared she ‘belongs to no man’.
Her comments caused a stir after concerns were raised in recent months over the couple’s future amid a text messaging controversy.
Earlier this year hundreds of alleged WhatsApp exchanges between Red Bull racing principal Horner and a female colleague were released via an anonymous email account.
He was accused of sending intimate late-night texts to a woman in her 40s, who took her concerns to HR at the Formula 1 team.
He has since been cleared of misconduct following an internal investigation which has allowed him to keep his £8million-a-year job.
He and Geri, 52, who wed in 2015 and share a seven-year-old son, are said to be putting the furore behind them despite some fears their marriage was on the rocks.
At the time of the initial revelations, sources claimed Ms Halliwell was ‘mortified and angry’ as she stood resolutely by him throughout the allegations, which he always denied.
The accuser was later suspended following the findings of the investigation, which sparked fury from campaign groups who claimed ‘women just don’t have confidence that their complaints will be investigated properly.’
The spotlight on Horner is said to have impacted the couple’s home life this year, which they split between their Oxfordshire farmhouse and a home in London.
But Geri was seen beaming today as her husband met and shook hands with the King as part of the latest investiture ceremony.
Lask week she took to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London to defiantly insist that she ‘belonged to no man’.
She appeared poised and confident as she chose to read ‘All My Life I’ve Belonged to No Man’ by 1800s radical feminist, Flora Tristan, during a star-studded edition of Letters Live.
As the only reader to make an opening speech, she described Flora as an ‘inspiration’ before reading the ‘delicious’ letter that she ‘couldn’t wait to share.’
‘I think at least one person in here tonight needs to hear this letter,’ she told the packed Albert Hall audience.
Dressed in a crisp white shirt and black bow tie, the Spice Up Your Life singer read aloud: ‘A superior woman must be superior with everyone and in all circumstances.
‘As for declarations of love, I received hundreds of them, I have the huge misfortune of being a pretty woman.’
She concluded: ‘I no longer get cross with those who behave badly, though it pains me.’
Others due at the Palace today included film director Christopher Nolan, 54, receiving a knighthood, while his movie producer wife Emma Thomas, 53, became a dame.
Broadcaster Alan Yentob, 77, was set to be formally be made a CBE for services to the arts and media, and Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera a CBE.
Horner has led Red Bull’s F1 team since 2005, winning six constructors’ championships between 2010 and 2023.
His career began as a racing driver, becoming a race winner in the 1992 British Formula Renault Championship before switching to team management after retiring from competitive driving at the age of 25.