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Lifelong royal fan to meet King Charles at Buckingham Palace

Samsu Miah says he is "incredibly proud" of his son Mohammed Alamgir Ahmed for winning his award

A lifelong royal fan who moved to Wales from Bangladesh more than 50 years ago says he is "incredibly proud" of his son for receiving a royal award.

Mohammed Alamgir Ahmed, 42, from Cardiff, has received a Coronation Champions Award for volunteer work.

His father Samsu Miah, 67, will attend a garden party with him in Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

"I'm very, very happy and excited. I never thought I would see the King in my life," Samsu said.

Samsu grew up in a small fishing village in Bangladesh, but moved to Cardiff in 1969 - just in time to travel to Caernarfon, Gwynedd, for the investiture of Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales the same year.

He said: "I saw the Queen and Prince of Wales, they said 'hello how are you?', so I'm proud, you know, that I've seen both of them in my life."

Family photo Samsu MiahFamily photo
Samsu has been a huge fan of the UK royal family all his life

Samsu's son, Mohammed, said he remembers growing up in the family home with pictures of the royal family next to pictures of himself and his siblings on the wall.

Mohammed, who runs a technology recruitment company, is one of 500 people - 29 in Wales - to receive the Coronation Champions award.

He was nominated for his community work, including volunteering with children and young people, at the Dar-Ul-Isra Mosque in Cathays, Cardiff.

Family photo Samsu and familyFamily photo
Samsu, pictured with his family on Roath Park Lake, Cardiff, has followed the royals closely

He said: "It's an honour really, I feel proud and humbled by it. It's also a big step because people from the black and ethnic minority community are not represented as much at these sorts of things.

"Myself at the garden party, with my dad as a guest, it's going to be great, whether we meet the King or not it's going to be great."

Mohammed is not Samsu's only son to have a royal connection.

Dr Abdul-Azim Ahmed, the general secretary of the Muslim Council of Wales, was one of a handful of people to greet the King in Llandaff when he arrived in Wales to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

"I'm very proud, one son going to see the King in a garden party and another going to receive them, so I'm very proud and happy and I think it is a very amazing thing," Samsu said.