Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has been recognized by the Royal family. She was joined by her mother and honored by being made MBE (Member of the British Order of the Empire) for their work surrounding brain injuries. On Wednesday, the Prince of Wales, Prince William presented them the honor.
Emilia Clarke played Queen Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones during its eight-season run from 2011 to 2019. The actor suffered two brain hemorrhages in her 20s and then founded the SameYou charity in 2019 with her mother. Soon after she had completed filming season one of GoT, had her first hemorrhage in 2011.
Emilia Clarke Received an MBE From Prince William
Emilia Clarke was awarded an MBE on Wednesday (21 February) alongside her mother as co-founders of SameYou, a brain injury recovery charity they established after surviving two brain hemorrhages. The honor recognizes her services to people with brain injuries.
“From Westeros to Windsor, a real pleasure presenting @emilia_clarke and her mum Jennifer with their honours today for their charity work with @sameyouorg supporting brain injury recovery care 🎖️ Congratulations to all of today’s recipients!” Prince William’s team said on their official Instagram handle.
As Prince William pinned the insignias, the mother-daughter duo was delighted and spoke about what it meant to them.
“Well, it was such an honor personally, but more importantly, we started the charity because the consequences of brain injury are just so unknown,” Jennifer Clarke began.
“To have an award like this… cherry on the cake,” Emilia Clarke, 37, said.
“I’m going to get my photo taken because of this award. And people are going to say, ‘Why is this person, who we recognize, got this award?’ And we’re going to say, ‘It’s for brain injury recovery.’ ”
“We’re doing it to try and help other people who have been doing it for a lot longer than us, make the changes that are so desperately needed for people,” her mother added.
Their charity works on helping people return to optimal functioning post traumatic injuries- and is advocating for improved access to neuro-rehabilitation assistance through charitable efforts.
Emilia Clarke Opened Up About Surviving Two Brain Aneurysms
In an interview with BBC’s Sunday Morning, Emilia Clarke revealed about the two brain aneurysms she survived while filming the megahit show. The actor shared that she survived both aneurysms, which occurred in 2011 and 2013, but “it was the most excruciating pain.”
“It was incredibly helpful to have Game of Thrones sweep me up and give me that purpose,” she added.
The actor said that she finds it remarkable that she is still able to speak and live a normal life.
"The amount of my brain that is no longer useful, it is remarkable that I'm able to speak and live my life normally. I'm in the really small minority of people who can survive that."
— Emilia Clarke for BBC One. pic.twitter.com/wy7GRC8UYj
— Emilia Clarke Updates (@UpdatesEClarke) July 17, 2022
“You gain a lot of perspective. The amount of my brain that is no longer usable – it’s remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately, and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions. I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that,” the actor said.
However, she also added that ‘quite a bit of it (brain) is missing’ and that she finds the whole thing funny sometimes.
“There’s quite a bit missing, which always makes me laugh. Because strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone. And so the blood finds a different route to get around but then whatever bit it’s missing is therefore gone,” Emilia Clarke concluded.
According to National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a brain aneurysm, which is also called a cerebral aneurysm is a weak or thin spot on an artery in the brain that balloons or bulges out and fills with blood. High blood pressure puts you at the most risk of having a brain aneurysm.
Game of Thrones is now streaming on HBO.
