01 August 2023 , 17:35
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Rachel Riley has discussed the moment she had to "stop talking" and later "ran away" from His Majesty King Charles at her investiture ceremony.
The Countdown star who is a strong activist for standing up to Antisemitism was awarded her MBE by the King for services to Holocaust Education in the New Year's Honours. Over the years, the 37-year-old has used her platform to educate those about the horrific ordeals which Jewish people endured during Hitler's takeover of Europe.
Over the years, Rachel has spent time with Holocaust survivors as well as giving a speech at the Houses of Parliament on modern-day antisemitism. But while the Essex-born braniac admits she suffered an awkward blunder when chatting to the Sovereign.
Rachel Riley received her MBE for services to Holocaust Education (Getty Images)
Rachel was awarded her recognition by His Majesty King Charles (PA)Speaking to the Mirror, Rachel said: "I mean, it was an amazing and surreal day in equal measure. You don't know who you're going to get awarded by until you get there on the day. You get to Windsor Castle, they check your car and say 'It's King Charles today'. It's very exciting.
"Everybody at Windsor, from the police that let you in, to the people telling you what room to stand in, everybody was absolutely lovely. It was a really special day, the King has done it for many years so he's very good at asking questions and getting you to talk and being interested.
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"I had to find myself to stop talking, so as not to talk over him because he was asking questions. You get a very quick 30-second briefing of what's going to happen and what you have to do. I knew you go up, you curtsey, you have a chat, you get your medal pinned on, shake his hand, do a curtsey and run away."
The television star recently partnered with Weetabix to set a new world record for the largest goal celebration during the Lionesses first two matches of the Women's World Cup (Simon Jacobs / SWNS)
She was joined by her husband Pasha Kovalev (PA)The mum-of-two continued: "It came to the point where it was almost an Oscars moment when they're turning the music on to get rid of you. He was shaking my hand and I just thought 'I don't remember the order', I just curtseyed and ran away to make sure it was all in there. It was like that Strictly moment when you've just forgotten your moves."
But while it is unclear whether His Majesty is a fan of Strictly, it's well known that his wife Queen Camilla is a huge fan, as is his sister-in-law, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. This, however, didn't make Rachel any more nervous as the King explained they hadn't met before, although she had been set to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace for the Jewish community but she was due to give birth and couldn't attend.
Rachel recently teamed up with Weetabix, who is the official partner of the Football Associations to help break a world record during the Lionesses' first World Cup match against Haiti. Discussing the partnership, Rachel said: "I've always been into football, I used to play as a kid and I'm vocal about being into football and I did Strictly, so this is the natural fit – football and dancing at the Women's World Cup. Dancing with little girls is what I do on a daily basis at the moment."
The television star recalled her favourite team, Manchester United not having a female team when she was growing up so is keen to ensure women's football is properly recognised. She added: "So now the little girls that are watching and they've got these heroes in big stadiums and they get to play in the same places as the men's game – the women are more successful in recent times, having won the last tournament."
Her two children, Maven and Noa often yell at their Alexa device to play 'Glory Glory Man United', it's universally popular. The women are incredible."
To check out Rachel Riley and Weetabix breaking the record for the biggest football goal celebration dance head to https://www.instagram.com/weetabixofficial.