The Queen herself presented Tom Gorange with his medal at the Buckingham Palace investiture. His wife, May, and the couple's two sons, Andrew and Allistair, were in attendance.

Tom, who was awarded the MBE for 'Services to Policing in Northern Ireland', wore his RUC tie and he was delighted that the Queen recognised it and had an impressive background knowledge of each of the day's 80 recipients who came from a wide variety of backgrounds.

"She knew exactly who we were, what we'd done and why we were there," he said. "She spoke to each of us as individuals and her knowledge of us as people and of what we had done in life made it obvious that she had done her homework very thoroughly.

"I was impressed, too, by the fact that she was so aware of the RUC's history and appeared to have a genuine appreciation of the force's record of service and sacrifice.

"It was a privilege and pleasure to have met her on what was a very nice day out. The level of organisation at Buckingham Palace was magnificent. Everything was just so. It was all checked, double checked and treble checked. Everybody was exactly where they were meant to be at exactly the right moment.

"It was all very precise from start to finish. So while we were all treated as individuals, the whole thing went like clockwork.

"Great experience," he added. "Never mind the MBE; the trip would have been worthwhile just for the wait in the Long Hall with its huge paintings by the Dutch masters. What a sight."

Tom hails from Suffolk, though you would never know it from his accent which appears to be that of someone born and bred in County Armagh.

In fact, he came here in 1972 and given that he is now retired, readers can work out the maths for themselves!

"I came here to serve as a Military Policeman in 1972," he said. "After that, I never had any desire to leave it."

Bearing in mind the fact that 1972 was the most bloody year in three decades of the Troubles - 496 dead of whom 258 were innocent civilians, 108 were regular soldiers, 26 were UDR members, 17 were RUC officers, 74 were republican paramilitaries and 11 were loyalist paramilitaries - it is remarkable that not only did Tom choose to stay, he joined the literally and figuratively much-under-fire RUC on completion of his service as a MP.

He completed 27 and a half years as a police officer, all of that time spent working in County Armagh.

delighted

"I'm very proud to have served in the RUC," he said. "That's why I wore my tie to Buckingham Palace and why I was delighted when the Queen recognised it.

"And while protocol means she is restricted in what she is allowed to say, I thought she did enough to make it fairly obvious that she held - and continues to hold - the force in the highest regard."