Robert Lodge, from Weeley Heath in Essex, said “a lady from the Cabinet Office rang me and explained that they wanted some recent MBE recipients to attend”. “At one point the answer was yes, of course,” the 71-year-old said. “It’s a special feeling to get this invitation.” Mr Lodge, who joined the army as an 18-year-old gunner and rose to the rank of captain in 27 years’ service, was honored for his work with the Red Cypher charity. The charity supports past and present members of the 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery and was named so because “our cap badge is a red-backed royal cypher”, Mr Lodge said. Mr Lodge met the Queen in Germany in 1984 when she visited a sniper parade in Dortmund. “She was friendly, she spoke like everyone knows her and she’s a wonderful person,” he said. “When I joined the army in 1969 as an 18-year-old, you swear allegiance to the Queen or the Crown and her successors, and when you do that you start to understand what you’re getting yourself into. “The Queen was our general and King Charles will always be our general.” Mr Lodge said he was “very saddened” to learn of the Queen’s death. “When I was invited to the funeral, it’s a duty and I feel privileged, and ‘Why me?’, but completely amazed that I’ve been invited,” he said. Lodge said he had been asked to attend Westminster Abbey on Monday morning. “It’s an honor and a privilege,” he said. “I feel very humbled. “This year, the MBE, the Queen dying, being invited to her funeral… it’s a bit surreal, really. “But looking at the pictures on TV and all the people I talk to, there’s an outpouring of sadness. “It’s just amazing. “Only this country would produce the standard of organization and flamboyance we see on television. “Absolutely amazing, brilliant, all the people involved in this. “Never forget it.”
