Queen knights Captain Tom, 100-year-old raising millions for healthcare workers, in rare ceremony

Queen Elizabeth II awards Captain Sir Thomas Moore with the insignia of Knight Bachelor at Windsor Castle on July , .

Queen Elizabeth II is still on the job and looking pretty well for a -year-old in pandemic quarantine at Windsor Castle for the last four months.

Friday was a busy day for her: First, one of her granddaughters got married in a surprise, secret ceremony on the castle estate, with less than people in attendance in accordance with Britain s pandemic rules.

And later in the afternoon, she knighted a -year-old WWII veteran, Captain Sir Thomas Moore, who s become a hero of the pandemic era for raising millions for healthcare workers, in a unique outdoor ceremony in the castle quadrangle.

This ceremony people got to see, as it was covered by the media. Pictures and video showed the queen and Moore, both maskless, step through the investiture ritual – the royal chair, the sword taps, the handshake she wore gloves, as per usual – on the grass in bright sunshine. Usually, people are knighted in indoor ceremonies.

A bit hunched due to his age, Moore approached his monarch with his trusty walker across the grass. After the ceremony, he posed for the pool cameras, holding up his insignia proudly.

At one point, the two – both WWII veterans – were a only a sword s distance away from each other, but otherwise it was a socially-distanced affair. The queen used the sword that belonged to her father, George VI, Buckingham Palace said. Captain Moore was accompanied by a small number of members of his family. 

The queen wore one of her signature ensembles of pastel coat, dress and hat, this one in mint green, the same outfit she wore to the wedding, judging from photos of her arrival at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge. 

Moore, or plain Captain Tom, as he has become known, was knighted because he s raised a record amount about $23 million for the National Health Service by walking sponsored laps with his walker, back and forth in his Bedfordshire back garden, service medals pinned to his breast pocket, since the start of the pandemic. 

He s one of the few people in pandemic-era British public life who is beloved and admired by all: no one trashes Captain Tom. As the BBC observed, he s inspired a kind of intense fandom more commonly associated with influencers, thanks to his positive outlook on the pandemic and life in general.

To all those people who are finding it difficult at the moment, the sun will shine on you again, and the clouds will go away, he said after he completed his th lap, evoking the We will meet again spirit of WWII that the queen herself invoked during her own pandemic speech in May.

Soon after the queen and husband Prince Philip began self-isolating at Windsor Castle west of London, the palace announced that all the usual June and July investiture ceremonies – handing out the gongs, as it s known colloquially – would be postponed due to the pandemic. 

This week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson s office announced that Moore would be knighted the government decides, the monarch performs the ritual, and the palace responded by arranging a special ceremony to allow for safe conditions for both elderly stars.

In accordance with government advice, members of the public are asked not to attend Windsor town center or gather in the hope of seeing any of the ceremony, which will not be visible from any external viewpoint, the palace reminded before the ceremony.