The King has presented honours to Royal Navy sailors who played a symbolic role in his mother’s funeral procession, one of whom is heavily pregnant.
During an open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle, the monarch honoured about 150 sailors and officers who either took part in Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral last September or helped to plan it.
Medical assistant Paisley Chambers-Smith, who is seven months pregnant, was awarded an RVO (Royal Victorian Order) silver medal for pulling the gun carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin with almost 100 other sailors.
On a warm sunny day in Windsor she was wearing a blue summer dress because the Royal Navy does not have any ceremonial maternity wear.
The medic, who works alongside civilian staff at an NHS hospital when not on deployment, said after the ceremony: “It’s not something I imagined doing so soon in my career.
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“The training was so hard but worth it and on the day it was a massive honour to be there.”
The King weaved between those gathered in the castle’s quadrangle, while music was provided by the Royal Marines Band Service.
