Captain Sir Thomas Moore received his knighthood from the Queen in person during a special investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Friday. The 100-year-old war veteran won the hearts of the nation after raising more than £32 million for NHS Charities Together after walking 100 laps of his garden before his milestone birthday in April.
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 Captain Tom. His award was formally announced by Downing Street back in May.
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WATCH: Captain Tom arrives for his knighthood at Windsor Castle
During the ceremony, the Queen used the sword that belonged to her father, George VI to award Captain Sir Thomas Moore 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.
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Captain Tom was joined by members of his family during the investiture in Windsor Castle's quadrangle - his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, son-in-law Colin Ingram, grandson Benji and granddaughter Georgia.
Ahead of 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."
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On Friday morning, a message and photo of Captain Tom with his dog was shared on his Twitter account. He said: "Good Morning! Ready and raring to go for what is a very special day. Thank you for all the well wishes, as ever, overwhelmed by your support."
Members of the royal family, including the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have praised Captain Tom for his fundraising efforts and sent him well wishes on his 100th birthday.
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The Queen spent around five minutes chatting to Sir Tom and his family during the ceremony and personally praised the veteran telling him: "Thank you so much, an amazing amount of money you raised."
It was the Queen's first public appearance since attending her granddaughter Princess Beatrice's wedding to property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on Friday 17 July. The private ceremony took place at 11am at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor. Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh were among the guests, along with close family members.
Sir Tom said of the Queen: "She did mention the money and she thought it was a magnificent sum to raise."
Speaking about his months of fundraising, he said: "When you think that about four months ago I was just Tom Moore, now I'm Sir Tom Moore, no one could ever have believed that, in that time it would happen to me.
"I've been really honoured that this should happen and I'm thrilled that it did happen, and thank you everyone who subscribed to the fund - I really appreciate it and thank you all very much."
After the ceremony, the royal family shared a photo on Twitter of Captain Tom with his daughter and grandchildren in front of Windsor Castle. They captioned the sweet image: "Captain Sir Tom Moore stands proudly with his family in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle, following his Investiture ceremony. Congratulations @captaintommoore."