A naval engineer who was awarded an MBE got down on one knee and proposed to his partner after the ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Matthew Gallimore, an air engineering technician in the Royal Navy, popped the question in the residence’s quadrangle after collecting his honour for his services to the military.

The 35-year-old was not allowed to propose inside the palace, but still managed to surprise his now-fiancee Adele Thomasson and make it a “special day” for the both of them.

Speaking about the romantic moment, he said: “I’ve had about four or five awards now in the navy, and she’s been to all my awards and it has always been all about me.

“This is a big occasion, we are never going to do this again, so I thought I want to share the occasion with my partner.

“Rather than it being all about me all the time, let’s make it a special day for both of us.”

Mr Gallimore, a junior rate who has been in the navy for five years, began planning the proposal after receiving a letter stating he had been named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

He said the royal household banned him from proposing inside because “the last thing you want to do is annoy the Queen”.

The palace agreed he could propose in the quadrangle – a courtyard in the middle of the palace – after receiving his award from the Duke of Cambridge on Tuesday.

He continued: “I kept it all quite private really, I asked her dad’s permission. There’s only about half a dozen people who knew, Adele didn’t have a clue.

“She was chuffed, she didn’t have a clue. She was very, very surprised.”

After she said “yes”, the couple celebrated their engagement with drinks at The Ritz Hotel in the capital followed by dinner at The Ivy.

Mr Gallimore, who is from Crewe, said he was pleased Prince William was the royal who presented him with the honours at the “lovely” investiture ceremony.

“I know all of the royal family have done military time, but I’ve got a lot of time for William and Harry,” he said.

“Once I knew it was him I was a bit more relaxed to be honest. If it had been the Queen I’d have been panicking.”

Mr Gallimore, who is based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset, said the duke had called the engineer’s military and charity work “amazing”, and added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if I see you here again in the future.”

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