By Lloyd Webb
Casey Stoney says receiving her MBE was “one of the proudest moments” of her life.
The Arsenal Ladies defender was presented with the honour on Wednesday after being recognised for her services to football.
Stoney has 123 England caps and was part of the Lionesses squad that finished third in the World Cup - and says she was overjoyed to meet the Queen.
“It is incredible," Stoney told Arsenal Player. “It is an amazing thing to do. It was a really proud day for me, my family and for anybody that’s helped me or touched me in any kind of way in terms of football.
“As I stood up to receive it, it was probably one of the proudest moments of my life. It was only yesterday so it is very fresh in the mind.
"It was a shock when I first found out that I had got it"
"Unfortunately when I walked out the door to leave it was absolutely pelting it with rain which was typical, but having said that pulling into Buckingham Palace, going inside it, what an incredible place!
“[There’s] so much history inside it, it was an incredible feeling. It is very, very formal - it was one of the most nerve-racking things I have done. I thought I would get the curtsy wrong or do the procedure wrong but to be honest Princess Anne really put me at ease.
"It is always nice to meet royal family because my family are royalists and to be able to take them inside Buckingham Palace [meant] it was a really good day for them too."
Stoney was with the England squad preparing for the World Cup when she found out she had been awarded an MBE and found it difficult to keep things quiet.
“I was at St. George’s Park in the pre-warm up camp to the World Cup,” she said. “I got an email through Arsenal to let me know.
“It was of very strict confidence to keep it quiet until it was announced while I was at the World Cup.
“It was a shock when I first found out that I had got it. Obviously I told a few members of my family and told them not to tell anyone but once it was announced it was a really proud day for me and receiving it was one of my proudest moments.”
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.