Bridgnorth mayor thought her Coronation invitation was 'spam'
The mayor of Bridgnorth said she had to pinch herself after receiving an invitation the King's Coronation in May.
Karen Sawbridge has been invited to attend the Coronation service on May 6, after King Charles extended invitations to the ceremony to 450 British Empire Medal recipients and 400 young people.
But Councillor Sawbridge said she thought the invitation from the Palace was spam when she received it last week.
She said: "I saw the email and I thought, 'Yes, right, it must be spam'. I was really taken aback. So I made myself a cup of tea and double checked the email address and realised it was from the Cabinet Office.
"I was pinching myself. Why, why me?"
She said she even asked friend and former Bridgnorth mayor Ron Whittle, who has a CBE, if he was attending but he wasn't. "So why me?"
Councillor Sawbridge, who received a BEM for services for grassroots rugby and for her work in the community in the 2022 New Year's Honours list, said the Palace has been strict as to who can attend Westminster Abbey on May 6.
"I'm not allowed a plus one, so I will be going on my own and have to be at the Abbey at 7am, but then they have 2,000 people to seat. So it will be a long day, but I am so looking forward to it.
"I just feel so honoured and can't believe it."
"They have invited 450 BEMs, so 20 per cent of us there will be from the people in the community, which is a wonderful thing that they have done."
But she added that she is under strict instructions to make sure she looks the part.
She said: "I can sometimes dress a bit like a tomboy, so a close friend has said she will help me with my hair and make up, as I think she is worried that I might turn up in my Dr Martens."
