From the BBC:
“Capt Sir Tom Moore knighted in
'unique' ceremony”
Captain Sir Tom Moore has been
knighted in the Queen's first official engagement in person since lockdown. The
investiture to honour the 100-year-old, who raised more than £32m for NHS
charities, was staged in a "unique ceremony" at Windsor Castle. He
has been recognised for walking more than 100 laps of his garden in Marston
Moretaine, Bedfordshire. Capt Sir Tom, originally from Keighley, West
Yorkshire, said it was "an absolutely outstanding day". "I am
absolutely overawed," he said, "This is such a high award and to get
it from Her Majesty as well - what more can anyone wish for? This has been an
absolutely magnificent day for me." The Queen personally praised Capt Sir
Tom, telling him: "Thank you so much, an amazing amount of money you
raised." In May, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a special nomination
for the war veteran to be knighted. Buckingham Palace said it was the first
time the ceremony had been held in the strictly socially-distanced format. The
Queen spent about five minutes speaking to Capt Sir Tom and his family The
Queen used the sword that belonged to her father, George VI, to bestow the
insignia of Knight Bachelor upon Capt Sir Tom. Her arrival was announced by the
sound of bagpipes played by the Queen's Piper, Pipe Major Richard Grisdale, of
the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Earlier, Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh and
other close family attended the unannounced wedding of their granddaughter
Princess Beatrice to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a nearby chapel. The ceremony
took place in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle Other Royal investitures have
been put on hold during the pandemic with those scheduled to take place at
Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in June and July
postponed. Capt Sir Tom was joined at the ceremony by his family - daughter
Hannah Ingram-Moore, son-in-law Colin Ingram, grandson Benjie and granddaughter
Georgia. Mrs Ingram-Moore said: "It is just the most sensational day, of
all of the things Tom's been honoured by this is truly the icing on the
cake." Capt Sir Tom, who was given the honorary title of colonel on his
100th birthday, had initially set out to raise £1,000 for NHS charities by
repeatedly walking an 82ft (25m) loop of his garden. But he eventually raised
£32,794,701 from more than one-and-a-half million supporters.
^ I have said it before and I’ll
say it again: the way the British people have come together during Covid-19
(even with Brexit lingering) is impressive. I am really glad that the Queen was
able to knight Captain Sir Tom in person. ^
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-53442746
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