Royal Watch News

Queen honours blood donor

Aug 26, 2009, 11:00 GMT

A longtime blood donor has been honoured by Britain's Queen Elizabeth.

Margaret Gunning, 71, has given blood over 700 times since 1956.

To recognise her "commitment to saving lives" the monarch invited Margaret to a garden party at Buckingham Palace last week.

Margaret was "thrilled" to attend the soiree, but insists she hasn't done anything out of the ordinary.

She said: "The whole experience was fantastic. To be honoured with an invite to the garden party for doing something I thought was part of my daily routine was a real pleasure."

But not everyone had such a good time at the party.

Prince Philip used the occasion to mock one unsuspecting guest's beard.

The goatee-sporting man told the 88-year-old royal he worked as a designer, prompting Philip to retort: "Well, you didn't design your beard too well, did you?"

Philip, who boasted a full and bushy beard as a young man, was later heard muttering: "You really must try better with your beard."