Pompey legend Chris Kamara describes getting MBE from Prince of Wales as 'unbelievable'
Chris Kamara, one of football’s most popular figures, who began his professional career at Pompey, described receiving his MBE from the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle as ‘unbelievable’.
The 65-year-old, known for his catchphrase ‘Unbelievable Jeff’, was honoured for services to football, charity and anti-racism.
Kamara played for nine English professional clubs over two decades before going on to manage Bradford and Stoke, later working as a pundit and presenter on Sky Sports.
He said he was ‘so pleased’ to have met William for the first time, revealing that the royal had written to him after he was named in the New Year’s Honours List.
Reflecting on the day, he told the PA news agency: ‘Amazing, what a family occasion it has been to take my wife and my sons Ben and Jack to Windsor Castle to see my investiture. Does it get any better? It’s great.
‘I got a letter from the prince to say congratulations and I just thanked him for that letter and he said it’s well deserved and long overdue, so coming from His Royal Highness, that’s amazing.
‘We chatted football, of course, we chatted about that letter and he asked how I was, which was overwhelming that Prince William is asking me how I am.’
On meeting William, he added: ‘It was unbelievable’.
There was a huge outpouring of support for Kamara on social media when he went public about his apraxia of speech diagnosis last year, saying he felt “a fraud” as a broadcaster having learned he had the condition.
He said the public support he had received was ‘amazing’ and ‘humbling’.