Hoy family honoured: Hurry up with that MBE – my son is getting a knighthood next door

Published on Thursday 11 June 2009 22:03

WAITING to meet Prince Charles to receive the MBE for an outstanding career in nursing, all Carol Hoy could think about was nipping through to another room.

Her dearest wish was to watch her son – Scotland's Olympic gold medal hero, Chris Hoy – being knighted.

The Hoys are the first mother and son to be honoured at a Buckingham Palace investiture ceremony on the same day.

And yesterday, royal officials ushered the retired nurse to a backstage vantage point where she could witness yet another of her son's amazing achievements first-hand, and snatch a few private words with him.

Mrs Hoy, 61, of Roseburn, Edinburgh, who early in her career became the youngest sister at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, went on to play an important role in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary's sleep research department. She was a ward manager running a national referral service for about 6,000 patients. Before retiring, she was recognised as one of the world's most experienced sleep nurses.

Speaking after receiving the MBE for services to healthcare, Mrs Hoy said: "To be together at the Palace, for a mum that means everything to me. I was really keen that I would able to see, and the staff were fantastic – they took me down and I had a really close view of him."

Sir Chris, 33, collected his knighthood after winning gold in the team sprint, men's sprint and the Keirin in Beijing, making him the first Briton to win three golds at one Olympics in 100 years. He already had won an Olympic gold, in the 1km time trial in Athens 2004.

Yesterday, Sir Chris said: "Because Mum was receiving the MBE and was actually outside the room at the time they allowed her to come down into the wings and watch the ceremony. That was pretty special – I could see her out of the corner of my eye. It is a great day for the whole family."

The Edinburgh-born cyclist said: "I heard about Mum's MBE before I heard about my knighthood, and I was so delighted. It's just such an amazing thing to happen to her, because she's worked so hard all her life.

"There are so many people like my mum who normally don't get recognised," he added. "It's people like her who dedicate their lives to their work."

Of his knighthood, he added: "I am still getting used to it. It is an amazing honour. Prince Charles mentioned my mum and said what a fantastic day it must be for the family and congratulations to us both."

Mrs Hoy said the prince wanted to know where her son got his sporting prowess from.

"I was able to assure him that it was not me," she said. "He just gets stuck in and gets on with it. I did buy him his first bike at a church hall, so it's all my fault."

She added: "It's a huge honour (to get the MBE]. So many nurses do fantastic things, so to get picked out was very, very special. And then when we heard Chris was going to be knighted, that really blew our socks off."

Yesterday completed a hat-trick of honours for the Hoy family. Sir Chris's grandmother, Isa Reid, led the way with an MBE in 1989 for service chairing the Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland. Mrs Reid – who used to call Sir Chris her "little golden boy" – died in 1998, too soon to watch her grandson conquer the sporting world.

The knighthood caps a remarkable year for the cyclist, who has received a number of accolades for his achievements on the track, including BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In April, he got engaged to girlfriend Sarra Kemp.

Sir Chris said: "Being knighted is the furthest thing on your mind when you compete at something like the Olympics. You train for your whole life and all of your sporting career to try and win gold medals"

David Brailsford, the man who led Britain's cyclists to eight golds at Beijing, also collected a CBE from the Prince of Wales during the ceremony.

Double gold medallist Bradley Wiggins picked up his CBE, while team-mates Victoria Pendleton and Jason Kenny collect their MBEs. Ellen Hunter, who won two golds at the Paralympics as a tandem cyclist, also collected her OBE.