The Queen has been one of his subjects many times over the years but photographer Mark Shearman had never met her – until he received his MBE.

Mr Shearman, from Purley, was made an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list for his services to sports photography.

And when he met the Queen they talked about his career including how he has been to every summer Olympic Games since Tokyo in 1964.

The 70-year-old said: "This was the first time I have spoken to her and have been standing so close to her, for just under a minute she made me feel very special.

"She asked me what sort of events I cover, I told her the number of Olympic Games I had been to and she said that I must travel a lot, I told her that I have travelled to well over a 100 different countries in my career to photograph sports events."