She beat Sir Paul McCartney, Dame Julie Andrews, Baroness Thatcher and Robbie Williams to the award at the first Greatest Britons 2007 ceremony on Monday night.
The Queen was not present to collect the award, voted by ITV1 viewers, but her son Prince Edward paid tribute to his mother via a video transmission.
Dame Helen Mirren, who won an Oscar earlier this year for her portrayal of the Queen, took the prize in the Film category.
And David Beckham flew in from Spain to pick up the award for Global Achievement. The football star and Dame Helen looked delighted to bump into each other on the red carpet, with the film star exclaiming: Oh my God, how exciting! as they posed together for photos.
Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown also made an appearance at the ceremony, held at the London Studios, where he presented founders of the company Innocent Drinks with the Business award.
Other winners included graffiti artist Banksy in the Arts category, and Amy Winehouse beat Sir Elton John and Take That to the award for Music.
Adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes - the first man to reach both the north and south poles by land - won in the Sports category.
Ricky Gervais landed the TV award, which he accepted via video in America - performing a version of his infamous dance from comedy series The Office. Designer Giles Deacon won the gong for Fashion and Duncan Goose, of Global Ethics Ltd, was chosen top Campaigner.
The ceremony, produced by ITV1 in association with The Sun newspaper and Marks Spencer, was hosted by former X Factor presenter, Kate Thornton.
News RSS
AND THE GREATEST SPEECH IS...
. "MY HUSBAND AND I" If the names here are really the UK publics perception of GREATEST then no wonder this country is in the state it is. Might as well throw in Sir Elton John and Sir Cliff bloody Richards to make up the numbers.
To view all 'Have Your Say' comments, click this button...
Hun Lee
Openly gay people can be barred from entering Tobago under the island's immigration law, and homosexuality is illegal in other parts of the Caribbean. However, promoters of the festival insist Elton will close the event on April 29...
Lewis O'neal
Church leaders are trying to ban Sir Elton John from their Caribbean island because he is gay. The star is due to play at Plymouth Jazz Festival in Tobago next month, but church authorities say his presence might tempt local people to become homosexual...
Miriam Liddle
Trinidad and Tobago (BANG) - Elton John's Caribbean show may be canceled over concerns he could tempt locals to become gay...
Hotty Miss
Others have done it so here comes my lame list: 1)I have never seen nor read Gone With the Wind. In fact Scarlett O'Hara annoys the hell out of me. I'm glad Rhett didn't give a damn. 2)I was voted Teacher's Torment in High School...
Franky Micklestone
If Elvis were still alive today and wanted to mount another comeback special, he'd probably pass on NBC and head straight for VH1 -- or maybe just post a few clips on YouTube...