Hollywood star Jolie meets Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace to be officially awarded her honorary damehood

Angelina Jolie was made an honorary dame during a private audience with the Queen today in recognition of her campaigning against sexual violence.

The Hollywood actress, 39, was presented with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George at a reception at Buckingham Palace. 

The monarch herself received Oscar-winning Jolie, who starred as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Mr and Mrs Smith, and Changeling, and who was named by Forbes as Hollywood's highest paid actress.

The actress was accompanied to the Palace by her husband, Brad Pitt, and their children, sources told MailOnline, and they were all introduced to the Queen, although they did not have official pictures taken.

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie was made an honorary Dame by the Queen in recognition of her work against sexual violence

 

Jolie, 39, also known as Mrs Brad Pitt, was recognised for her work in this year's Queen's birthday honours

The actress was given her DCMG during a private midday audience with the monarch in the 1844 room at Buckingham Palace

The Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George was presented to Jolie in London today

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'The audience itself between Miss Jolie and the Queen was private. Her Majesty presented her with the insignia in its box. Mr Pitt and the rest of the family were introduced to the Queen afterwards, however.'

As an American citizen, it is highly unusual that Jolie has received an honour from Britain. Foreigners are only occasionally awarded them – there was an honorary knighthood for Bob Geldof, who is Irish, after Live Aid.

It is also unusual for a damehood to be bestowed upon someone so young.  The honour is generally bestowed later in life, after a recipient has earned a lower honour such as an OBE or a CBE. 

Because she is a foreign citizen Jolie may not be addressed as Dame, though she can use the initials DCMG after her name, but received the award on an honorary basis for her work at trying to stamp out rape in war zones.

She was recognised in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas Birthday 2014 Honours list and received the honorary damehood (DCMG) for services to UK foreign policy and the campaign to end war-zone sexual violence.  

The award was first announced in June during the week when Jolie was co-chairing the End Sexual Violence in Conflict (ESVC) global summit in London with then foreign secretary, William Hague. 

Honour: The Queen herself received the Oscar-winning actress in a private audience at Buckingham Palace today

Travelling in style: The actress and her husband Brad Pitt touched down in a private jet in London yesterday, ahead of today's ceremoy

The other day job: Jolie, whose films include Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, above, and Mr and Mrs Smith, is Hollywood's highest paid actress

Jolie pictured arriving at the sexual violence summit she organised with then Foreign Secretary William Hague, centre, and Brad Pitt

The actress was accompanied to the Palace by her husband, Brad Pitt, and their six children, five of whom are pictured above

Her humanitarian work runs parallel to her Hollywood career and bringing up her six children with actor Brad Pitt, three of whom are adopted.

Jolie has been described by US Secretary of State John Kerry as a 'fierce and fearless advocate' and he said her dedication to campaigning could overtake her successful film career as her lasting legacy. 

Palace aides chose not to make public details of the audience beforehand but released a series of stills of the Queen meeting the Queen of Hollywood later.  

The audience took place in the 1844 room, named in honour of the 1844 State Visit of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I.  

In a statement Buckingham Palace said: 'Ms Angelina Jolie was received by The Queen today when Her Majesty presented her with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George.

'His Excellency the Hon Paul de Jersey was received in audience by The Queen and kissed hands upon his appointment as Governor of Queensland.'

When her damehood was announced, Jolie said: 'To receive an honour related to foreign policy means a great deal to me, as it is what I wish to dedicate my working life to.

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The Queen also received Paul de Jersey, who was appointed Governor of Queensland, and his wife, Kaye

'Working on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative and with survivors of rape is an honour in itself.  I know that succeeding in our goals will take a lifetime, and I am dedicated to it for all of mine.'

Honorary damehoods and knighthoods are conferred by the Queen, on the advice of the Foreign Secretary, on those who have made an important contribution to relations between their country and Britain.

Previous recipients include include U2 frontman Bono, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and veteran broadcaster Terry Wogan.

Jolie is co-founder with William Hague of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) and she is also special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. 

Building on her long-term humanitarian work for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), she has been at the forefront of the initiative to highlight and seek justice for the plight of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet - the victims of sexual violence in conflict.

A film Jolie made - In The Land Of Blood And Honey - brought her and Mr Hague together, leading to the ESVC summit at the ExCel exhibition centre in London's Docklands in June.

Jolie has said she was 'very moved' that the 2011 film, which is set in Bosnia during the conflict and explores the issue of women suffering from sexual violence, was responded to by Mr Hague. 

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ANGELINA JOLIE: FROM CONTROVERSY TO HUMANITARIANISM

In 1995, Angelina married Hackers co-star Jonny Lee Miller, wearing black leather trousers and a white top with her groom's name reportedly scribbled in her own blood.

The marriage lasted a year, after which he went on to date Kate Moss among others, while Jolie had her first openly gay relationship, a brief fling with actress Jenny Shimizu, in 1998.

In 2000, Jolie married Academy Award-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton in Las Vegas. Throughout their relationship, they were said to wear vials of each other's blood on matching necklaces.

Previous loves: Husband number one was British actor, Jonny Lee Miller, in 1995, left, followed by Billy Bob Thornton in 2000

That same year, Jolie caused a stir when she and her producer brother, James Haven, shared a passionate kiss at the Oscars after she won the award for Girl, Interrupted.

Her marriage to Thornton lasted just three years, and after they divorced one of his former wives claimed they split because Thornton did not share Jolie's desire for children. 

The actress adopted her first child, Cambodian-born Maddox, in 2002 when he was seven months old, and in 2005 she adopted Zahara, a six-month-old little girl from Ethiopia.

Also in 2005 Jolie was involved in a scandal when it was claimed she was the reason for the divorce of Brad Pitt, then her co-star in the film Mr & Mrs Smith, and Jennifer Aniston.  Jolie repeatedly denied the suggestion and did not comment publicly on their relationship until January 2006 when she announced she was pregnant with their first child.

Mr Right: Jolie co-starred with Brad Pitt in the 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith, and announced she was pregnant by him the following year

Shiloh Pitt was born in 2006, and the following year the couple dubbed 'Brangelina' adopted Pax, a four-year-old boy from Vietnam.  In 2008, Jolie gave birth to twins, a girl named Vivienne and a boy named Knox.

In 2012, Jolie co-founded the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) with then-Foreign Secretary, William Hague, after Hague saw Jolie's 2012 film about Bosnian rape camps, where women were kept prisoner and only released when they were pregnant, Land of Blood and Honey.

Last year the actress announced in a New York Times article that she had a preventative double mastectomy because she carries the 'faulty' gene BRCA1, which sharply increases her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. 

The month after she underwent eight hours of surgery, removing the breast tissue and replacing it with a temporary filler, Jolie made a humanitarian trip to the Congo with British Foreign Secretary William Hague as part of a UN initiative. She reportedly fainted in a bathroom during the trip.

In April she visited a Women In The World summit in New York, before flying to London later that month to attend the G8 meeting, before having reconstructive breast surgery. 

After learning she carried the BRCA1 gene Jolie, whose mother Marcheline died of ovarian cancer, took the decision to undergo a hysterectomy next year. 

Jolie married Pitt in the south of France this summer in an Atelier Versace dress decorated with drawings by her young children.