Captain Tom Moore to receive knighthood from Queen in unique Windsor Castle ceremony

“It is going to be the most special of days for me"
Luke O'Reilly17 July 2020

NHS fundraising hero Colonel Tom Moore will today receive his knighthood from the Queen in a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle.

The 100-year-old Second World War veteran won the hearts of the nation and raised almost £33 million for health service charities by walking laps of his Bedfordshire garden earlier this year.

He set out to raise just £1,000 by walking 100 laps before his 100th birthday on April 30.

He completed the laps ahead of time and his determination captured the public imagination.

Queen Elizabeth II has been self-isolating at Windsor
PA

He will be joined by family members for an unprecedented personal investiture staged in the castle’s quadrangle on Friday.

Ahead of the ceremony, Sir Tom said on his official Twitter account: “It is going to be the most special of days for me.”

The 94-year-old Queen has been staying at Windsor during the coronavirus pandemic for her safety, but will carry out the official engagement in person.

While other investitures due to be held at Buckingham Palace in London and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in June and July were postponed, a special exception has been made for Sir Tom.

Buckingham Palace believes it is the first time the “unique” format of his ceremony will have taken place, amid the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic and Downing Street’s announcement of Sir Tom’s individual knighthood.

Captain Tom Moore - In pictures

1/68

The Queen will use the sword that belonged to her father, King George VI, and will present Sir Tom with the insignia of Knight Bachelor.

Buckingham Palace said the investiture will follow strict social distancing rules.

Sir Tom will be joined for the ceremony, which cannot be viewed by the public, by his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, son-in-law Colin Ingram, grandson Benji and granddaughter Georgia.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in