LONDON—Rachel Whiteread, the first woman to win the Turner Prize, was given royal honors today by the Queen of England, the Press Association reports.

Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon Whiteread the title Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a title only marginally below Knight or Grand Dame. The 42-year-old artist won the Turner Prize in 1993 for her construction of a concrete interior of a condemned terrace house.

Whiteread joked that she didn’t believe she would be commissioned to produce a cast of Buckingham Palace anytime soon.

"There wasn't any offers of casting. It's a bit big actually. I'm trying to work smaller in my studio at the moment,'' she said.