A ROYAL Navy engineer proposed to his fiancee at Buckingham Palace moments after he was given an MBE by Prince William.
Proud Matthew Gallimore, 35, got down on one knee at the palace in front of partner Adele Thomasson after being honoured for his services to the military.
The royal household wouldn’t let him propose inside but he was determined to surprise partner Adele and make it a “special day” for the both of them.
Matthew and the palace agreed that he could propose in the quadrangle, a courtyard in the middle of the palace, after receiving his award from the Duke of Cambridge on Tuesday.
He said: “I’ve had about four or five awards now in the navy, and she’s been to all my awards and it has always been all about me.
“This is a big occasion, we are never going to do this again, so I thought I want to share the occasion with my partner.
“Rather than it being all about me all the time, let’s make it a special day for both of us.”
Matthew was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and said he began planning the proposal as soon as he received the letter.
He went on: “I rang up the palace and said, ‘can I do it inside the palace?’ and they said ‘no, you have to do it outside.’”
“They said, ‘at the end of the day it’s the Queen’s house, so the last thing you want to do is annoy the Queen’. And that’s the last thing I want.
“I kept it all quite private really, I asked her dad’s permission. There’s only about half a dozen people who knew, Adele didn’t have a clue.
“She was chuffed, she didn’t have a clue. She was very, very surprised.”
‘AMAZING’
The couple celebrated their special day with drinks at The Ritz Hotel in the capital followed by dinner at The Ivy.
He added: “I said to my parents beforehand if it wasn’t the Queen doing it, I would have liked it to have been him.
“I know all of the royal family have done military time, but I’ve got a lot of time for William and Harry.
“Once I knew it was him I was a bit more relaxed to be honest. If it had been the Queen I’d have been panicking.”
Matthew said the duke had called the engineer’s military and charity work “amazing”, and added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if I see you here again in the future.”
The couple recently bought a house together and have a 20-month-old son, George.
Matthew said: “We’re from a council estate and getting told at school you’re never going to achieve anything, because I’m dyslexic, and now I’m quite well known in my community.
“My family are thrilled to bits, my mum, my dad, especially my partner.
“Everyone is more than chuffed.”
