Lionesses Beth Mead and Lucy Bronze have been awarded MBEs for services to football for their roles in England’s Euro 2022 triumph.
The pair received their honours from Prince William at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
Both beamed with pride as they posed with their honours in the castle grounds after shaking the royal’s hand.
Mead, 28, was joint Golden Boot winner at Euro 2022 and won BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Barcelona right-back Bronze, 31, said she told her grandmother when she found out about the honour. She said: “My grandma probably doesn’t understand many of the awards I’ve won in football but she adored the Queen, so I thought ‘this MBE is going to be her special thing’.
“To be recognised for everything I’ve done throughout my career was a little bit surreal. An MBE is obviously a huge honour and very special.”
Mead and Bronze were among four of the Euro 2022-winning side included on the New Year Honours list, with skipper Leah Williamson and Ellen White.
Luther Blissett, one of the most prominent black English footballers in the 1970s and 80s, collected his OBE at Wednesday’s investiture ceremony.
The 65-year-old, who began his career at Watford, was the first black player to score a hat-trick for England and was bought by AC Milan for £1million in 1983.
He is now patron of Sporting Memories, which uses the power of sport to unlock memories in people with dementia, depression or loneliness.
Others to receive their honours included Dame Virginia McKenna, 92, who won an OBE for services to wildlife conservation, and former royal aide Jason Knauf who was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order – for people who have served the royal family in a personal way.
Nurse Nicola Bailey collected an OBE for offering legal early medical abortions to women in Northern Ireland during the pandemic.
