Popular Covid expert Jonathan Van-Tam missed the ceremony to mark his own knighthood - due to catching the very disease that catapulted him to popularity.
Sir Jonathan was awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours list for his services to public health after leading dozens of No10 press conferences.
The former deputy chief medical officer for England became a cult figure for his creative analogies about the Covid pandemic - often involving football.
He was supposed to receive his knighthood from the Duke of Cambridge at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, but could not attend due to getting Covid-19.
Sir Jonathan will instead collect his gong at a later date.
A spokesperson for the University of Nottingham said that Prof Sir Jonathan was isolating at home and is "almost completely recovered".
"Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam was diagnosed with Covid-19 infection early last week.
"He is fully vaccinated, is continuing to work whilst isolating at home and is almost completely recovered," the spokesperson said.
"He is very disappointed not to have attended his investiture yesterday as was planned, however it will be rescheduled and he is very much looking forward to receiving his Knighthood for services to public health.
"This is a timely reminder that no matter how vigilant we remain, the risk of infection from Covid-19 remains present and can affect anyone.
"We should all continue to take reasonable steps to protect ourselves including getting fully vaccinated."
Nicknamed JVT, he served as the deputy chief medical officer between 2017 and March this year.
He helped steer the nation through the Covid-19 crisis and became a popular face behind the Downing Street press conference podium.
Describing the ultra-cold storage of the Pfizer vaccine, he once retorted: "It's not a yoghurt that can be taken out of the fridge and put back in multiple times."
Urging proportion ahead of July 2021’s ‘Freedom Day’, he said: “Nothing reduces the risks to zero other than standing in a meadow completely on your own ad infinitum with nobody coming within three metres of you.”
In February 2021, the Boston United fan told people getting tired of lockdown: “It’s a bit like being 3-0 up in a game and thinking ‘we can’t possibly lose’. But how many times have you seen the other side take it 4-3?”
And urging the public to hold on until more people were vaccinated, he once said: “I don’t know if many of you are used to crawling into small tents on mountainsides.
“But if you do so and you know a storm’s going to come up in the night, it’s better to put some extra guy ropes on there and then, than it is to wait until it’s the middle of the night, it’s howling with wind and rain, and you’ve then got to get out your tent and make your tent secure and by the time you crawl back in you’re soaking wet”.
He described the arrival of a vaccine like a football match in 2020.
He said: It's clear in the first half, the away team gave us an absolute battering, and what we've done now is it's the 70th minute, they got a goal, and in the 70th minute we've now got an equaliser.
"Okay, we've got to hold our nerve now, see if we can get another goal and nick it.
"But the key thing is not to lose it, not to throw it away at this point because we've got a point on the board, and we've got the draw."
He also compared it to landing a plane, saying in November 2020: “Do I believe we’re now on the glide path to landing this plane? Yes, I think I do.
“Do I accept that sometimes when you’re on the glide path you can have a side wind and the landing is not totally straightforward - of course.
“And this is the real science world we live in. But yes, I think we’re on the glide path. Over.”
