Queen Elizabeth will be part of a knighthood ceremony on Friday, July 17, marking her first face-to-face duty since the COVID-19 lockdown. And, the man of honor will be Captain Tom Moore, the 100-year-old who famously raised more than $40 million for the UK’s National Health Service during the pandemic by walking 100 laps in his garden.
“On Friday 17th July 2020, Her Majesty The Queen will confer the Honour of Knighthood on Captain Sir Thomas Moore at an Investiture at Windsor Castle. Captain Sir Thomas Moore will be accompanied by members of his family,” confirmed the palace in a statement.
[embed]https://twitter.com/England/status/1281860781693218817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]According to People magazine, the Queen will use the sword that was owned by her father, King George VI, to confer the Knight Bachelor honor on Moore at the special ceremony. While his family will be in attendance, no one else will be allowed.
The World War II veteran tweeted his excitement about receiving the honor, writing that he looks forward to meeting Her Majesty The Queen and it will be “the most special of days” for him.
When Moore turned 100 on April 30, he received “Happy Birthday” messages from Queen Elizabeth, as well as other royal family members like Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Moore became a sensation in the UK during the lockdown back in April when he started his JustGiving page. His goal was to support the “fantastic NHS workers” who were on the frontlines, and his family described those workers on the fundraising page as “national heroes.”
He explained that he would walk 10 laps everyday, and each lap was a distance of 25 meters (approximately 82 feet). He hit his initial goal of £1,000 (approx. $1,250) within the first 24 hours, so his family decided to raise it to £100,000 (approx. $125,000).
As Moore continued to walk, the fundraising skyrocketed and he eventually broke records by raising $40 million. According to his fundraising page, Moore was born in Keighley, Yorkshire in 1920 and attended Keighley Grammar School before earning an apprenticeship as a civil engineer.
[embed]https://twitter.com/captaintommoore/status/1283363304249991168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]He was enlisted in the 8 DWR of the British army at the beginning of World War II, and in 1940 he was selected for officer training. He later served in Indian, Indonesia, and England. After his wife Pamela passed away in 2006, Moore moved in with his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, in Bedfordshire.
Captain Tom Moore currently lives with his daughter, her husband, and their two children.
The palace had previously announced that they were canceling all investitures during the months of June and July because of social distancing rules. However, Queen Elizabeth made an exception for Captain Moore.