LONDON (AP) — In the end, Sir Tom didn’t need to rise.
On a day infused with emotion, Queen Elizabeth II tapped the blade of a sword once owned by her father on the slender shoulders of 100-year-old Tom Moore, making a hero of a nation a knight of the realm Friday.
Moore captivated the British public by walking 100 laps of his garden in England and raising some 33 million pounds ($40 million) for the National Health Service in April. The queen knighted him with the traditional sword tap, but the World War II veteran was not required to take a knee before the monarch.
Instead, Moore steadied himself against his now-famous walker and wheeled himself across the grass to stand in front of Elizabeth.
Afterward, reporter Chris Ship of ITV had a chance to hear first-hand about the experience from Sir Moore.
My day 👇
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) July 17, 2020
Absolutely loved meeting @captaintommoore today. pic.twitter.com/WkVclhJdTe
Sir Moore raised 33 million pounds in donations for NHS by walking 100 laps around his backyard as the coronavirus pandemic began to sweep across the United Kingdom.