EVEN Bob ‘The Cat’ Bevan failed to come up with a quick one-liner when he went to Buckingham Palace to collect his MBE from the Queen.

The comedian, author, after-dinner speaker and raconteur from Bells Yew Green, near Tunbridge Wells, was honoured for his services to charity.

“You don’t really get time for jokes as you’re only up there for about 45 seconds,” said Mr Bevan afterwards. “I don’t suppose it was appropriate to crack a gag, but she did shake my hand and ask what I did, to which she replied ‘how wonderful’.

“It’s clear she didn’t recognise me which is strange, because I recognised her,” he quipped. “Oddly enough though I was tittering a bit just before I went up for my medal.

“The guy ahead of me was a Mr Duckworth, honoured for his services to the water industry! You couldn’t write gags like that, could you?”

The award from the Queen’s birthday honours list recognises Mr Bevan’s fund-raising for sports clubs and his campaign to raise £100,000 for a pavilion at Bells Yew Green Cricket Club.

A keen Kent cricket follower, he is a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats, an honorary barker in the Variety Club, a former trustee of the Lord’s Taverners and also appears as a celebrity guest on TV quiz show Countdown and BBC out-take programme Auntie’s Bloomers.

“I held a lunch in town after the presentation for family and friends I’ve got to know in 30 years of after-dinner speaking,” he added.

“I had Terry Venables, Bobby Robson and Richard Whitely come along and we finally left the restaurant at 11pm, so you could say a good time was had by all.”