Line of Duty star Vicky McClure honoured by King at MBE ceremony

Actress Vicky McClure said it was a "surreal" feeling to have been honoured by the King at her Windsor Castle investiture ceremony.

The Line of Duty star has been appointed an MBE for services to drama and charity.

It comes after she formed a choir to help people with dementia.

The 40-year-old, from Nottingham, said she felt proud to be "breaking boundaries" with her campaigning and was looking forward to doing more.

McClure founded the Our Dementia Choir in 2019 after her late grandmother Iris was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and found comfort in music.

Initially conceived as a show on BBC One, the actress then set up the choir as a registered charity to help support people living with dementia through the power of music.

Speaking after the ceremony on Tuesday, she said: "We played at the O2 this year, we played at the Cavern Club, here, there and everywhere - they are a very, very busy choir of people that are living with dementia.

"We are breaking boundaries now and it is making a lot of noise and helping people realise that they shouldn't feel so scared, because they are looking at these people and they are living well and thriving, not just sat in a chair doing nothing.

"People still have lives and still have things they want to achieve, and that's what the choir are all about."

McClure said the charity had "loads of plans" for next year and the choir's success had inspired others to create their own versions.

She described the experience of being made an MBE as "surreal" and having "a sketchy night's sleep" before the ceremony, but said the King asked what acting role she is working on in a "really nice, pleasant chat".

McClure will return to prime-time TV in the second series of ITV thriller Trigger Point, due to air next month.

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