THE former chief constable of Dorset Police said receiving a Queen's Police Medal was the proudest day of his life.

James Vaughan received the accolade from Her late Majesty in the 2018 New Year's Honours.

He received his medal at Buckingham Palace from King Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales.

Reflecting on receiving the honour, which carries the monarch's name, Mr Vaughan said: "It was a huge privilege for me. My grandfather was awarded the British Empire Medal during the Second World War posthumously for non-combat gallantry and I am the only other person in the family to receive an honour since.

"It felt amazing. I took my mum and my wife to the palace with me. Everybody says this, but the proudest day of my life to go to Buckingham Palace to receive the medal from King Charles as he now is. It was a lovely couple of days.

"I treasure the medal because as I was queuing up to receive my medal in the hallway outside ready to go into the room, one of the palace officials who was ushering us around said 'you are getting the QPM, these are rather special because we don't make many of these, we don't get many of these award' and it is true as it is only a small handful of people who get the QPM every year, so that made it that much more special."

Mr Vaughan was honoured largely for some of the national policing work he did around forensics, with his distinguished service recognised by the monarch.

The Queen's Police Medal, or as it will be called moving forward King's Police Medal, can be awarded to anybody from the rank of constable through to chief constable and police and crime commissioners.

Paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, Mr Vaughan, who retired from Dorset Police last year, said: "I would join with the millions of other people that have poured out tributes to Her Majesty over the past week.

"Police officers are not employees, they are warranted servants of the crown, so the monarch has a special place in our hearts because we are fairly unique in that we swear an allegiance to the crown, to the sovereign, and like everybody else I am 54 years of age, I have only ever known Queen Elizabeth II being on the throne.

"I think she has been a role model and a leader like no other in my lifetime. My thoughts and condolences go to the rest of the Royal Family.

"I had the pleasure of meeting the King on two occasions. I was honoured enough to get the Queen's Police Medal in 2018 and it was awarded to me by the then Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. He is an extraordinary man. He is a man who makes every single one of the people in that investiture feel special and he certainly made me feel special.

"A couple of years later he opened the Police Memorial at the National Arboretum. I was in a long line of chief constables. He saw me, he recognised me and he came across and he said hello. He has a remarkable memory. He met me a couple of times and he found that couple of seconds to make me feel special for a second time.

"I wish him all the best for the future."