It was a bright and windy March day when we finally travelled to Windsor Castle to receive our MBEs. Everything about the occasion was suitably impressive: the sheer scale of the Castle, high on its mound with spectacular views over the surrounding countryside, the height of the guardsman who towered over us in the portico, motionless as a statue, the number of smartly dressed attendants stationed at every turn to help and congratulate (among them, we were pleased to discover, a subscriber to SF), the succession of great portrait-lined rooms through which we all moved. We waited a while in the magnificent Waterloo Chamber, commissioned by George IV to celebrate that victory, and then were led into another stately room where the investitures took place. While a string orchestra from the Royal Corps of Army Music played, the Princess Royal presented us with our decorations and chatted to us about Slightly Foxed (she had been at it all day, we were told, having only touched down from Dubai the night before).
But perhaps the most impressive thing was the range of services rendered by our fellow recipients ‒ services to mountain rescue in the Lake District, to radiography, to the community in Sheffield, to innovation and global technological advancement – all of them people who had contributed in their various ways to making things better, many of them no doubt representing the efforts of a whole group of other people. We certainly agreed afterwards, as we finally kicked off our shoes over a welcome cup of tea, that our MBEs were a cheering recognition not just for us but for everyone who has helped to make Slightly Foxed what it is, not least our readers.
Excerpt from Slightly Foxed Issue 82: From the Editors
Richly deserved. There have been many services to literature but few as striking, influential and long lasting as those provided by the founders of Slightly Foxed.
I am so very happy for Gail and Hazel as they have done so much to reintroduce the world to forgotten authors. Thank you to you both for making my daily chores a bit brighter.
Such richly deserved awards. The magazine and podcasts give such a wonderful amount of pleasure. Thank you.
Twiggy