Captain Sir Tom Moore was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. The ceremony honored Captain Tom’s heroic fundraising efforts, in which he raised more than £32million for the NHS during COVID-19. This is Queen Elizabeth’s first face-to-face engagement since lockdown. He was excited and also took the opportunity to make some jokes: “If I kneel down I’ll never get up again.”
The 100-year-old war veteran won the hearts of the world after raising more than £32 million for NHS Charities Together. He walked 100 laps in his garden before his milestone birthday in April.
© @GettyImagesIn May, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a special nomination for the war veteran to be knighted. In a message on his Twitter account, Captain Sir Tom said he “could never have imagined this would happen” and that it would be “the most special of days.” His award was formally announced by Downing Street back in May.
© @GettyImagesDuring the ceremony, the Queen used the sword that belonged to her father, King George VI and awarded him with the insignia of Knight Bachelor. With her father’s sword in her hand, the monarch lightly touched Captain Tom first on his right shoulder then his left with the blade - dubbing him a knight.
Captain Tom was joined by members of his family during the investiture in Windsor Castle including: his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, son-in-law Colin Ingram, grandson Benji and granddaughter Georgia.
Before the ceremony, his daughter Hannah told BBC Breakfast that the knighthood was the “icing on the cake” of her father’s amazing year.
She said: “We will take a leisurely pace down to Windsor - no rushing today and no falling, no tripping, and we have a fairly regimented day ahead of us. Protocol is being written as we speak and we will simply be doing as we are told.”
