The co-chair of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant said it was thrilling to plan such a diverse event as he was knighted at Windsor Castle.
Sir Nicholas Coleridge, who is also chairman of the V&A museum, told the PA news agency: “Being co-chair of the pageant was great fun, but I honestly thought was going to take about five years off my life. I think in the end we just about got away with it.
“The great challenge was getting the mixture between tradition, and then it got sort of wackier and wackier as it continued, with people from every part of the country.”
The pageant saw a 3km carnival procession through central London featuring a cast of thousands, including hundreds of servicemen and women, and celebrities pivotal to 70 years of British culture waving from open-top double-decker buses.
Sir Nicholas was knighted by the King on Tuesday and said: “It’s been the most awe-inspiring and exciting day, one almost forgets how well the British do these things.”
The 65-year-old was recognised for services to museums, publishing and the creative industries in the 2022 Birthday Honours list, an honour he said he never could have expected.
“It was a deeply exciting moment to open the envelope, I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t, and to be here, and see the investiture room with the Ghurkhas and Yeoman Warders, it’s thrilling,” he said.
He admitted he was a great fan of the King and was pleased that he was knighted by the monarch himself.
“It won’t surprise you to know that I’m a very great fan, although I would’ve been very pleased to meet any of the royals,” he added.
“We spoke about the Donatello exhibition opening tonight at the V&A, the King and Queen recently came to see our African fashion exhibition. I think he’s absolutely marvellous.”
