Queen Honours NHS With George Cross

The Queen praised Britain’s “amazing” Covid vaccine rollout yesterday as she presented the NHS with the George Cross.

- Richard Palmer

In her first public investiture since she knighted Captain Sir Tom Moore in July 2020, the 96-year-old honoured the health service for its work since its inception in July 1948 and particularly during the pandemic.

The NHS became only the third collective recipient of the cross, Britain’s highest award for non-operational gallantry, following the island of Malta and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

It is awarded “for acts of the greatest heroism or for most conspicuous courage in circumstance of extreme danger”.

In the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, the monarch and Prince Charles were joined by executives and health workers from the four home nations – each nation receiving a medal on a cushion.