KENT'S track star Kelly Holmes today received her Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire insignia from The Queen.

The double Olympic champion from Hildenborough, near Tonbridge, was accompanied by her mother, father and grandfather for the award ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Speaking after the ceremony, she said: "This is brilliant - you can’t get any bigger that this. It’s delivered by the Queen from the state, so it will be hard to top."

"I’ve met the Queen before with the rest of the team when I came back from the Olympics, but this was completely different."

Her mother, Pam Thomson, said: "Everyone’s been saying ‘Dame Kelly’ for a while now, but it’s a reality now."

Holmes, 34, has received a number of awards since winning gold medals for the 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, and was named a Dame in the New Year Honours List.

Although forced to pull out of last week’s European Indoor Championships, she is still optimistic about her future in athletics, and will now focus on August’s world athletics championships in Helsinki.