Former Toon striker Les Ferdinand collected an MBE from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. The 38-year-old said he was proud to receive the honour and cited his greatest achievement as playing for his country. Charles commented on the scale of the injuries Ferdinand has faced during his lengthy career.
Ferdinand: "I've had 14 different operations. The prince knew I had had a few injuries. He said it was great I lasted so long.
"A lot of people were saying 'is this as nerve-wracking as going out at Wembley?' The only different is, I know no-one's going to be booing here.
"When I first started out, I wanted to represent England - that's the highest accolade and I managed to do that.
"When I first found out I was obviously very proud and all my family are proud of me. When you see the other people here and when I have done something I've enjoyed for 20 years, sometimes you don't feel worthy."