FORMER Thornbury and Yate MP Sir Steve Webb has officially been knighted by Prince William in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Sir Steve, who lives in Olveston, was given the knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list for “political and public service" following his long involvement within the Liberal Democrats, which saw him serve as  MP for almost 18 years, first for Northavon and then for Thornbury and Yate, also serving as Pensions Minister from 2010 to 2015.

The investiture ceremony at the palace on Friday was overseen by the Duke of Cambridge, who arrived by helicopter to bestow the honours on around 100 people.

Sir Steve, who was joined on the day by his parents, wife Helen and children Dominic and Charlotte, told the Gazette how amazed he was by the variety of people there, including Olympic gold medallists, entertainment personalities and some remarkable everyday people.

He said: “It was great to see so many people who are helping their communities day-in-day-out being recognised for their efforts,” but joked that it was a shame he had not been in the presence of fellow knight of the realm Sir Andy Murray, who was busy playing tennis in Madrid.

Having been to the palace once before during his first few years as an MP, Sir Steve had met the Queen before, and had also met Prince Charles during a Royal visit to the constituency, but said that it was a pleasure to receive his knighthood from the Duke of Cambridge.

“I’m a great fan of Prince William,” he said. “He and the Duchess of Cambridge are great ambassadors for the Royal family and our country.

“We were able to have a short chat when I was presented to him, he asked what I was doing with my time now and my career following the election.”

Sir Steve said that he was impressed that the prince knew exactly who he was and had clearly been well briefed on each person at the ceremony.

“When you have to speak to 90-to-100 people it must be hard to have something interesting to say to every person. You really have to be interested in people to do that kind of role, and he does it very well.”

As he was receiving a knighthood, Sir Steve said that he was asked in the back room to practice kneeling while being tapped on each shoulder and joked that he must have done it right as he still had both his ears.

“It was a special day for everyone,” he said of having his family present.

“It was particularly nice to have my parents there. I am sure they are still quite puzzled by the whole thing but they were clearly very proud.”

He also said how much his children also enjoyed it as they had not been inside the palace before, and particularly enjoyed his son Dominic exclaiming how he had “never seen so many posh hats in one place before.”