Sir Andy Murray has received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace. The tennis star was honoured by the Prince of Wales with his wife and parents watching on.
Sir Andy was given his knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List at the end of 2016 for services to tennis and to charity. The announcement came just months after he claimed his second Wimbledon men’s singles title and his second Olympic gold medal.
Since then he has experienced a string of injuries which led him to announce earlier this year that he may well retire from the sport after this year’s All England Tennis Championships. However, it’s not yet clear whether he will compete at Wimbledon again – he made history there in 2013 when he became the first British man to win the singles title in over 75 years. That famous title came less than a year after he became the first UK male to win a Grand Slam singles title in over seven decades when he clinched the US Open in 2012.
The Scottish star, well known for his understatement, said he was very proud to be knighted, adding ”It’s a nice day to spend with my family”.
His charity work has seen him named as a Unicef UK Ambassador and he has previously been presented with the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award. He has also taken part in high profile work supporting cancer and malaria charities.
Among the others honoured at the latest investiture at Buckingham Palace was the award winning novelist, Sir Philip Pullman, who was knighted by the Prince of Wales. The author of the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy said ”it’s very good to see literature, the arts, the book world, recognised in a nation’s honours list’.
