This Tuesday was a pretty big day for me. I had heard on New Years Eve about the OBE I was being honoured with and I heard in March that the date for the actual presentation (Investiture) was to be on the 17th May. This meant that the following weekends during March and April and indeed May leading up to 17th were spent searching for a dress, shoes, handbag and can you believe it, a hat!
Once inside the castle it was amazing pomp and ceremony, mixed with some lovely friendly staff whose main job is to put you are your ease. The people looking after us could not have been nicer and all the different honour categories were sent into different rooms. After about half an hour of chatting with some pretty impressive people who were receiving their honours for amazing humanitarian endeavours, we were given an important briefing, telling us where to walk, who to stand next to and then how to greet HRH the Duke of Cambridge (Prince William). As we queued, I was reminded of how to walk up to Prince William, keep a respectful distance, turn, curtsey or bow and then walk up to him for him to pin on the medal. I had a surprisingly long chat about the state of Social Care, I was so impressed by HRH Prince William’s understanding of Social Care and his compassion for the sector.
I then met back up with mum who had accompanied me throughout the day, we passed the beautiful orchestra and were escorted to the next room for the official photos. Once finished we then were given plenty of time to walk through the adjoining rooms while meeting even more lovely friendly staff who kept saying ‘congratulations’. The walk back down the hill was not nearly so stressful and I was met at the gate by my lovely family who kept taking photos and treating me like a celebrity. Finally it was back to the Castle Hotel for a super Jubilee Afternoon Tea, I am pleased to say that I managed not to lose the medal and I have put it in a very safe place.
What a day!
