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Oliver Jones

Ex-Leeds United heroes James Milner and Chris Kamara receive MBEs in Windsor Castle ceremony

Former Leeds United stars James Milner and Chris Kamara have both received their MBE awards at Windsor Castle this afternoon.

Milner was recognised in June 2022 for his services in football and charity while Kamara was named amongst the recipients of the honours on King Charles III's first New Year's Honours list earlier this year.

Liverpool, Milner's current club, celebrated his award by tweeting a photo of the star, who set up the James Milner Foundation to help promote healthy activities for young people across the UK.

READ MORE: The seven teams struggling in front of goal more than Leeds United this season

The 37-year-old midfielder spent the first few seasons of his career at Elland Road, coming up through the academy and making 53 appearances for the first team before moving on to the likes of Newcastle United, Manchester City and Aston Villa.

"[Prince William is] obviously a Villa fan so we talked about Villa and what a good club it was and how much I enjoyed my time there and just about football in general really, yeah," Milner admitted to PA after the investiture.

When asked if he'd like to become a coach one day, the 37-year-old added: "Yeah, I mean I'm doing my badges currently so it's something you're exploring but you never know what's going to happen in the future.

"You never know how you might feel and some days it's fantastic, you see managers incoming and they get new contracts and then three months later they get sacked because of poor results, so it's a pretty ruthless business to go into.

"So I do feel it would be a shame to walk away from football with the amount of knowledge I've been lucky enough to accumulate. I've been very fortunate to work at some amazing football clubs with some amazing players and managers and coaches and I've learnt a lot, so it would be a shame to walk away from that and not give that knowledge to the younger generation."

Kamara, on the other hand, was awarded his MBE honour for his services to football, anti-racism campaigns and charities and has recently been hailed for his openness with his battle with speech apraxia.

He was given his award by Prince William and Kate, who joked on their official Twitter account: "We’re off to Windsor Castle where there’s been an MBE, but for who @chris_kammy?"

The 65-year-old, who played 23 times for Leeds across two seasons, tweeted in response: "It was great to chat footy & have a laugh with the Prince."

Reflecting on the day, he told the PA news agency: "Amazing, what a family occasion it has been to take my wife and my sons Ben and Jack to Windsor Castle to see my investiture. Does it get any better? It's great.

"I got a letter from the prince to say congratulations and I just thanked him for that letter and he said it's well-deserved and long overdue, so coming from His Royal Highness, that's amazing. We chatted football, of course, we chatted about that letter and he asked how I was, which was overwhelming that Prince William is asking me how I am."

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