Indian actress Shilpa Shetty was honoured with Britain’s Global Diversity award along with racing driver Lewis Hamilton.

Shilpa was presented with the Global Diversity Award 2008 at a glittering gala at the Riverbank Park Plaza hotel hosted by the Next Steps Foundation, Tuesday night

Shilpa rose to fame last year after she was subjected to racist remarks and subsequent humiliation by some participants in the popular television reality show ‘Big Brother’. She was praised universally for showing restraint and handling the issue with poise and dignity.

Lewis Hamilton was also subjected to racial abuse. On Feb 4 this year, he was racially abused by spectators during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) warned the Spanish authorities about such behaviour and announced it would launch a ‘Race Against Racism’ campaign.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Andy Burnham were prominent among the 500 attending the event.

The event was hosted by the Next Steps Foundation, an organization established 10 years ago by MPs Bernie Grant and Keith Vaz to encourage diversity in both the public and private sectors.

The evening also highlighted the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue that invites European nations to celebrate diversity in Europe.

Vaz, who has been made British ambassador for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, said both Shetty and Hamilton faced adversity in their careers but have dealt with it with grace and dignity.