Northern Ireland player Jonny Evans has described receiving his MBE from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace on Monday as “quite a surreal feeling”.
The 106-times capped Manchester United defender was awarded the MBE for his services to association football in Northern Ireland.
“I feel very privileged. It was a great experience for the family,” said Evans.
“It was obviously quite a surreal feeling to be up there and to meet the Prince of Wales.”
“We were chatting football mostly and that was nice, it was a nice little moment.”
The 35-year-old has enjoyed a distinguished career at club level, including two stints at Manchester United, as well as playing for West Brom and Leicester City, with whom he won the FA Cup in 2021.
Evans won his first Northern Ireland cap in a memorable 3-2 win over Spain in Belfast in September 2006 and has gone on to be a mainstay in defence under several managers of the national team.
He has scored six international goals to date and was part of Michael O’Neill’s squad at the Euro 2016 finals in France, Northern Ireland’s first appearance at a major finals for 30 years.
Evans’ MBE was announced in the King’s Birthday Honours List in June.
“It’s something [the MBE] that has come at the end of reaching 100 caps for my country and I feel really, really proud about it. The amount of text messages I’ve had…people are really excited,” revealed Evans.
“To be able to bring my wife and my mum and dad down to Buckingham Palace for the day, it’s just an incredible thing.”
