Prince William to present Andy Murray with OBE

Britain’s Prince William will present Andy Murray with an OBE.

The 31-year-old royal will carry out his first investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace when he pins the gongs onto the British tennis sensation and Jon Plowman, producer of hit BBC sitcom ‘Vicar of Dibley’, on Thursday (17.10.13) as he stands in for his grandmother Queen Elizabeth.

A royal source explained: ”William has been practicing using the sword and pinning the medals on a servant so that he gets it right.

”He obviously doesn’t want to slice anyone’s ear off or stick a pin into their chest!

”Above all he realises this is the biggest day in the lives of some people who are being honored, and he wants it to go well for them.

”His biggest challenge is being tall – it’s not easy to stoop down and talk to some of the smaller recipients and to pin the honors on.”

The Duke of Cambridge, who recently announced his decision to quit military service to become a full-time royal, is said to be ”a bit nervous” about making sure he gets it right on the day because he is only allowed 30 seconds to speak to each recipient due to time constraints.

William is thought to have been asked to hand out the OBEs by the queen months ago and immediately agreed to take on the role.