(Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire)
A Dragons' Den star was among 15 to lose an MBE, alongside those who have had their knighthood and OBEs removed.
Since August last year 22 people have had their honours taken away for criminal convictions, professional censure or bringing the system into disrepute, with six losing an OBE and one a knighthood.
Among those to have lost an honour are a leading UK politician, a former BBC star and an award-winning UK composer.
Mr Donaldson was the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party between 2021 and 2024.
However, in June he was convicted of historical child sex abuse offences at Newry Crown Court.
His solicitor John McBurney confirmed that papers have been lodged for an appeal.
This time last year, former Dragons’ Den star Julie Meyer was stripped of her MBE, one of 12 to lose an honour during August 2025.
Jeffrey Donaldson
(Image: Brian Lawless/PA Wire)
Having been awarded the MBE for services to entrepreneurship in 2012, it was taken from her for bringing the honours system into disrepute’.
This followed the 59-year-old being given a six-month suspended sentence for contempt of court after she repeatedly failed to submit documents and attend hearings relating to £200,000 in unpaid fees to her solicitors, Farrer & Co.
She had been well-known to the UK public, appearing on the online version of Dragon’s Den in 2009.
Award-winning composer Jan Latham-Koenig lost his OBE at the same time.
The London-born composer built an international career with posts at major opera houses and orchestras, and was known for his work with ensembles including the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Over the years, he has collected a string of honours, among them the Gulbenkian Fellowship and Russia’s Golden Mask award in 2014 for a production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.
In 2024, he admitted a series of child sex offences after sending sexual messages and an explicit image to an undercover police officer posing online as a 14‑year‑old boy, and was given a suspended prison sentence at Southwark Crown Court.