Captain Tom Moore to receive knighthood from Queen in own personal ceremony on Friday, Buckingham Palace confirms

Ewan Somerville15 July 2020

Captain Tom Moore is to receive his knighthood from the Queen in person this Friday, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

Her Majesty will present the heroic veteran with his honour at Windsor Castle in a private ceremony.

The 100-year-old captured hearts across the nation during lockdown as he raised almost £33 million for the NHS by walking laps of his garden, having originally set out to raise £1,000.

Sir Tom’s family will be with him as the Queen knights the fundraiser with the sword that belonged to her father George VI, Buckingham Palace said.

Captain Tom Moore - In pictures

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Investiture ceremonies planned for Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse this summer have been postponed because of the pandemic.

But the investiture for Sir Tom will take place entirely within Windsor Castle and with no access of viewing for for the public.

Boris Johnson recommended to the Queen that Sir Tom be knighted, hailing him as a “true national treasure” and praising his “fantastic fundraising” which he said “provided us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus”.

His knighthood comes just weeks after he was made an honorary colonel to mark his centenary and fundraising efforts.

Sir Tom set out to walk 100 laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire before his 100th birthday on April 30, and he completed the laps ahead of time.

Sir Tom said he was 'delighted' to receive the news that he will be knighted by the Queen
Benjie Ingram-Moore

But his endeavour inspired the nation and he smashed his target, raising a staggering £33m and seeing his charity single featuring singer Michael Ball, You'll Never Walk Alone, make him the oldest ever UK singles chart topper.

Last week it emerged that one of the last things Forces' Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn did before her death, aged 103, was write to Sir Tom.

Paying tribute ahead of her funeral at the weekend, Sir Tom called her a "lovely English girl".

“I was absolutely thrilled to get a letter from Dame Vera congratulating me on the amount of money that we’d raised for my birthday," he told ITV's Good Morning Britain.

“She was always so kind, she was lovely, I’ve always had a soft place in my heart for Dame Vera."

Sir Tom enlisted into the eighth battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (8 DWR), an infantry unit that was converted to operate Churchill tanks as part of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC).

In 1940 he was selected for officer training and rose to the rank of captain, later being posted to 9 DWR in India.

He served and fought in the Arakan in western Burma, since renamed Rakhine State, and went with his regiment to Sumatra after the Japanese surrender.

After the war he returned to the UK and worked as an instructor at the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in Bovington, Dorset.

He lived in Kent for many years before moving to Bedfordshire to be with his family in 2007.

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