WILTSHIRE'S Paralympics star Stephanie Millward was told she was an inspiration by the Prince of Wales when she received her MBE at Buckingham Palace last week.

The 35-year-old swimmer from Box, who won two golds at last summer's Rio Games and has nine Paralympics medals in total admitted she was "incredibly proud'' as was invested alongside several of her Great Britain teammates in London on Friday - the day after having her local swimming pool in Corsham renamed in her honour.

She said: "It was amazing. Prince Charles conducted the ceremony and it was so exciting. I came out of there grinning and smiling - it must have been the best day of my life.

"I had two incredible days in a row and I think I ran out of words by the end of it. I could barely speak at the event in Corsham because I had been going to that pool for years and the palace was just so beautiful.

"I think someone had already told Prince Charles about my medals and he congratulated me and said you are an inspiration to everyone and an inspiration to me so I said how he inspired me too. He also asked if I was planning to go to Tokyo and when I said yes, he wished me luck. Then I had to take three steps back and curtsey and it was so scary because I thought I was going to end up flat on my back!"

Millward, who is regarded as one of Team GB's most experienced Paralympian swimmers, joined Claire Cashmore and Alice Tai, two other members of the quartet which won the 34 point 4x100m medley relay in a world record time in Brazil at Buckingham Palace who were also there to receive their MBEs. Her husband Adrian also gave up the opportunity to attend the ceremony so that another family member could enjoy the experience.

She said: "We were allowed to take three people to the palace and my husband had already met the Queen so he gave up his place so someone else could go, which was really lovely. I took my mum and dad and my mum's partner Nick and they were completely over the moon."