THE Queen is set to make her first face-to-face engagement since lockdown to knight fundraiser hero Captain Tom Moore on Friday.
Captain Tom has said that meeting the Queen at Windsor Castle will be the “most special of days” for the WWII veteran.
This is the first time the Queen will emerge from lockdown, and will hand Captain Tom Moore his knighthood at an open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle.
The WWII veteran raised more than £32million for NHS charities by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday in April.
Captain Tom will pick up the gong from the Queen, 94, on Friday at the special ceremony.
The 100-year-old tweeted his excitement: “I could never have imagined this would happen to me.
“It is such a huge honour and I am very much looking forward to meeting Her Majesty The Queen.
“It is going to be the most special of days for me.”
There were fears the ceremony may have been delayed until the end of the year due to lockdown rules.
It will be the first investiture since lockdown four months ago when the Queen left Buckingham Palace.
‘MOST SPECIAL OF DAYS’
And will be seen as a return to work for the Queen.
Captain Tom will be accompanied by members of his family and the ceremony will take place inside the castle.
During the open-air ceremony, The Queen will use the sword that belonged to her father, George VI and will award Captain Sir Thomas Moore with the insignia of Knight Bachelor.
Members of the public are asked not to attend Windsor town centre or gather in the hope of seeing any of the ceremony.
It is the first time the Queen has been seen since a scaled-back social-distancing Trooping the Colour inside Windsor Castle on June 13.
Captain Tom served in WWII, but at aged 99 he embarked on 100 laps his garden in a bid to raise £1,000 for NHS Charities Together.
On the morning for his 100th birthday he surpassed £30million and campaign closed at £32.79m.
He featured on a cover version of the song ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ with proceeds going to same charity.
At the beginning of the pandemic and before lockdown the Queen wore gloves to hand out gongs.
