King’s Birthday Honours 2026 - MBE
SDC Honorary Fellow, Diana Springall FRSA has been awarded MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours 2026 for services to Arts and Crafts.
We are delighted to announce that Diana Springall has been awarded MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours 2026 - published in issue 65091 of The Gazette - the UK’s official public record.
For many decades Diana has been one of the most influential figures in British embroidery. As an internationally respected textile artist, teacher, collector, author and tireless advocate for stitch as a fine art, she has inspired generations of embroiderers and helped elevate embroidery to the recognition it enjoys today.
A member of the SDC since the mid‑1970s, she became Chairman from 1987 to 1990, a period that included the Society’s Centenary Year during which she steered a successful application for Charitable Status as well as a schedule of planned exhibitions to celebrate the Centenary Year, including at St Paul’s Cathedral.
In 1964 she began to buy pieces of textile works direct from known embroiderers and emerging artists and which she felt were good examples for future generations. Initially she did this so that her students could see and feel the real work of a variety of artists rather than just pictures or slides. Many of the emerging artists she bought early are now well established themselves some with thanks to Diana’s encouragement.
Diana has fought tirelessly to find a home for The Collection as there is no other such resource in Britain today. She is donating the collection and her vast library of books to The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery, Sunbury-on-Thames. The current building at the Gallery will be extended to accommodate this collection, which will be displayed and accessible for study.
The Gallery is currently fundraising to enable the extension to be built - Sunbury Gallery expansion.
'Head of a Girl. 1960. Diana Springall. Hand embroidered on cotton organdy on cotton ground.
'Cyclamen'. 2016. Diana Springall. Low relief in piped felt. Synthetic thread. Hand and machine stitched. Glazed box frame