Mistry gets an MBE

"It’s an honor to have an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) conferred on me. I feel very privileged to have received it from the Duke of Cambridge and that the Duchess of Cambridge also attended the investiture. I would like to thank all the British Deputy High Commissioners for whom I have worked for their consistent encouragement, my team at the Press Section of the British Deputy High Commission for their invaluable contribution and the wider network of colleagues for all their support over the years,” Shireen Mistry, former head of communications and public affairs at the British Deputy High Commission for western India shared with Parsiana. She received the award in Bombay on April 12, 2016.

"Her Majesty The Queen has approved the award… to Shireen Dinshaw Mistry, an Indian citizen, in recognition of her contribution towards building strong relations between India and the United Kingdom,” read the official press release. "I am delighted that Her Majesty has graciously approved this award… (Shireen) deserves it… she has been the link between the media in western India and the British Government and a popular, high profile member of the British Deputy High Commission staff,” said Kumar Iyer, British Deputy High Commissioner in Bombay.
Mistry, who held the job for 23 years between 1992 and 2015, graduated from St Xavier’s College in Bombay where she co-founded its popular annual Malhar festival and later went to Oxford University. She had earlier worked as a journalist.
The MBE, which was created in 1917 by King George V to recognize the contribution of a larger range of people to the British war effort, now has the added criterion of "valuable service.” Under MBE, women and foreigners were included in an order of chivalry for the first time, the press release reveals.