Fans floored as Queen's birthday honours list reveals actress Olivia Colman's real name

The Crown actress Olivia Colman has been made a CBE in the Queen's annual Birthday Honours List.

The Oscar award winner, who has starred in Broadchurch and The Favourite, and has joined a list of volunteers, campaigners, and other celebrities, has been nominated for her services to drama.

Of the nomination, she said she was, "thrilled, delighted and humbled to be in the company of these incredible people, most of whom have been nowhere near as visible as I have, but should be. It's such an honour."

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But something about the announcement left Olivia's fan surprised, as it was revealed that the honour was being given under her real name, Sarah Sinclair.

The announcement said, "There are CBEs for Oscar winning actress Sarah Sinclair (Olivia Coleman)".

It turns out, Olivia's real name is Sarah Caroline Olivia Colman - so when she married her husband, Ed Sinclair, back in 2018, she technically became Sarah Sinclair. However, of course, Olivia still goes by her maiden name for her public work.

TV and film fans expressed their surprise on social media at the revelation, with one saying, 'Equally pleased by Olivia Colman’s CBE and bemused by the fact her actual name is Sarah Sinclair'

While another agreed, 'Most surprising thing out of the #QueensBirthdayHonours is finding out that Olivia Colman's 'real' name isn't Olivia Colman. #everydayisaschoolday'.

And a third said, 'Wait, what? Olivia Colman's not her real name?? I don't know what to believe anymore.... #queensbirthdayhonours', while a fourth agreed, 'why did it take until the queens birthday honours list for us to find out that olivia colman’s real name is actually sarah sinclair???'

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Of course, Olivia Colman is the name the actress has decided to stick with, meaning Sarah Sinclair is, technically, we suppose, just the name on her marriage certificate.

In a recently unearthed clip of an interview Olivia did, she revealed that she changed her name simply because she didn't like it.

If the popular actress is handed her CBE by the Queen herself, it'll likely be an amusing meeting, given that she is set to play the monarch in the third series of The Crown.

And we can't wait until it airs!