Transcript:

20 Investitures are held at Buckingham Palace each year, and one at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

For many of those who are to be honoured, and for the guests that come with them, this is the first and only time in their lives that they will be received by The Queen in a Royal residence.

Before they are presented with their honours by Her Majesty, recipients attend a briefing from the Lord Chamberlain's Office.

[Investiture briefing from the Lord Chamberlain's Office] "Ladies, a little curtsey if you will, gentlemen a little bow, and straight away move forward to the dais. The Queen is on the dais, you do not go onto the dais."

[Once the National Anthem has begun] Honours recognise achievement in all walks of life and are given on the advice of the Prime Minister's Office. The Queen, as 'Fountain of Honour' in the United Kingdom, is responsible for awarding these honours.

[The Queen's voice] "Investitures are traditional, and I'm always absolutely fascinated by the people who come and all the things that they have done. Some of them are very cleverly discovered. I think that's very important, that the system does discover people who do unsung things that perhaps the local people know about but nobody else does, and I think that's very satisfactory. This is also meant to be a pat on the back and I think people need pats on backs. It's a very dingy world otherwise."

[Voices of  recipients] "It's nice to be recognised for anything you do, but to be recognised at this level is particularly important."

"I think it very rare to see the palace operating in the way that those great paintings show us palaces operated in the last century and the century before that. And I think it's the spectacle, plus, I think, meeting some very special people."