Durban lawyer awarded MBE

DURBAN lawyer and honorary British consul David Warmback got the royal treatment last week when he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) during an official ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London.

- WENDY JASSON DA COSTA

The MBE is a British honour awarded by the monarch to individuals who have made significant achievements or rendered outstanding service to the community. Warmback was honoured for his 13 years of voluntary consular service to British nationals living in South Africa.

The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, presided over the ceremony which took place a year after Warmback was first named in King Charles’ New Year's Honours List in 2024, due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Warmback, who is a dual South African and British national, told the Independent on Saturday that he remembered that as a child he had seen the palace from outside while visiting family in the UK. This was the first time he went inside and while he didn’t expect to feel nervous, once inside the palace he realised the enormity of the occasion.

“But Princess Anne really makes one feel at ease. I mean, obviously, she’s very experienced at dealing with people and she obviously does lots of these ceremonies,” he said.

Warmback was entitled to bring along three guests, and he was accompanied by his wife Ashley, his London-based nephew, Kieran Warmback, and Lizzy Walker, who had nominated him for the award when she was working for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in South Africa.