Lanark’s John Barrie collects MBE
YOU can’t quite say that Lanark’s veteran badminton coach John Barrie is making a habit of meeting the Princess Royal; after all, his encounter with her in Buckingham Palace last week to receive his MBE was the second time they’d encountered each other in 28 years!
“I first met Princess Anne at the Commonwealth Games back in 1986,” said John, the Ex-Lord Cornet awarded the medal for his services to badminton in the New Years Honours List. Not surpisingly, Princess Anne didn’t instantly remember John after that brief previous meeting but “she was very knowledgeable indeed about the sport and made the time to talk to everyone despite it being a very busy investiture at the palace that day.”
By the way, the ever-modest John tells the Gazette that, as far as he is concerned, his wife deserved the award as much as him: “For me, MBE stands for Mary Barrie’s Efforts!”