A HARDWORKING community champion was honoured to land an invite to lunch with the Queen.

Linda Massey, liaison officer for Friends of Boston Manor Park and organiser of the much-loved Brentford Festival, enjoyed a meal with the Queen, Prince Philip and 120 community stalwarts from the south of London.

Former Hounslow Mayor Amrit Mann joined her at the event at a secondary school in Mitcham on Tuesday, May 15.

Ms Massey said: “I was absolutely honoured to attend and I was first in line when the Queen came into the room, I was just one foot away from her. Prince Philip spoke to the Mayor but then he got ushered on very quickly by a man with a sword.”

But how she came about her invite remains a mystery.

Ms Massey explained: “I received a curious email from the mayors’ office a few months ago asking me for my home address, but he wouldn’t tell me more about it.

“Then I got a formal invite, a handwritten beautiful card from the Palace, which said I had been nominated to attend the lunch thanks to my notable achievement.”

However, when Ms Massey asked Councillor Mann who nominated her, he could not remember.