Rio Ferdinand receives OBE from Prince William at Windsor Castle for services to sport and charity

English football legend Rio Ferdinand has been made an OBE today during a service led by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle. 

The ex-Manchester United defender, who won 81 caps playing for the Three Lions, was presented the honour a day after turning 44 in recognition to his services to sport and charity work.

It comes after the sports star-turned-pundit established the Rio Ferdinand Foundation to support young people in disadvantaged communities.

His loving wife Kate watched on as father-of-four Rio was made an OBE by Prince William. 

Rio has spent years battling a range of issues, from racism to a lack of social mobility for children and young adults.

Speaking after the Prince of Wales awarded him an OBE during an investiture ceremony, Ferdinand said: ‘I’ve got a platform because of football but it’s about using that and utilising that in the right way so it can impact other people, which has always been the drive for me.’

Joined at Windsor Castle by his father Julian, he added: ‘I felt a responsibility to do that, especially as I got further in my career, and you have the ability to influence people and using those platforms for positive change.”

He won a Bafta award and plaudits for hosting the BBC documentary Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum And Dad, about coping with the loss of his former wife, Rebecca, in 2015 to breast cancer and looking after their three children.

Rio has worked to raise awareness for breast cancer after Rebecca’s death, which was tragically followed by the death of his mother, Janice St Fort, from the same disease aged 58 in 2017.  

Speaking to Sky News moments after receiving the honour, Rio said: ‘This obviously means a lot. The inspiration behind this was my mum and my dad… it means a lot to me.’  

While still a footballer he established the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, which states on its website that it aims to help youngsters from working-class areas in ‘tackling racism and inequality, and providing opportunities and pathways to deliver social mobility and realise personal potential’.

He stressed that providing opportunities is ‘the key’ and ‘nothing was to be given on a plate, you still have to earn it’.

Ferdinand added: ‘Not everyone can be the footballer, not everyone can be the person on the stage, not everyone can be the person in the spotlight. But there are so many different jobs that surround those industries, that you can still keep the passion alive and have a career.’ 

He said in his late 20s he started preparing for a life outside football and began exploring different interests, including media work, charitable aims and business projects.

Aspirations to manage a club were also part of his aims at the time, but he added: ‘Obviously management, I was thinking about doing that as well… never materialised because of personal reasons.’

The ex-defender, who has worked as a pundit for BT Sport, joked: ‘That’s the best part of it for me – I still stay in the game but I haven’t got the pressures and I’m not losing my hair or going grey like some of the managers.’

Ferdinand has worked on a number of projects with William, including supporting the prince’s Heads Together mental health campaign.

He said: ‘I’ve looked at him as someone who’s a future king of the country and you say “What’s he going to stand for?” 

‘There’s such an element of positivity that surrounds him – his nature, his willingness to help other people is the one thing that stands out for me, and I think that’s one of his most impressive traits.

‘Mental health wasn’t a real topic before his involvement and he’s really been one of those people at the front of that queue, beating that drum to get it recognised for what it is.’

Ferdinand’s latest project is a three-part documentary that will look at the topics of racism, sexuality and mental health for Amazon Prime Video.

He said: ‘It’s interesting seeing people from different backgrounds and different cultures and how they see race, how they see sexuality and how they see mental health, and you get very different viewpoints from different parts of the country you go to.’

Rio was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June and dedicated his OBE to his late mother, Janice St Fort. 

In a video posted on his Instagram earlier this year, Rio began: ‘I want to say a huge thank you to the queen and everyone that put me on the honour list for this year.

‘But I can’t sit here and take this accolade on my own, I think the support that I have had from all of the people within the foundation have played their roles, the young people that have been helped too.’

He continued: ‘My mum was the inspiration behind this foundation. I looked up to her, her willingness to help other people, the want and desire to change people’s perspectives and life in terms of opportunities.

‘Having the will and desire to do that and to keep pushing. To keep asking corporations, different councils, members of parliament to help young people have dreams and the possibility to help realise those dreams.

‘No matter how big or how small but having that one dream in your life, we feel is very important for everybody walking this earth to have something to focus on and really gear towards. 

‘But you also need a framework, the structure to do that and that is what our foundation is about.’

He collected the OBE during a stunning ceremony at Windsor Castle, with Prince William presenting Rio with the honour.   

Also being recognised during two investiture ceremonies hosted by the Prince of Wales was Olympic champion swimmer Adam Peaty, who will be made an OBE for services to swimming.

Peaty became the first British swimmer to retain an Olympic title with a stunning display in the final of the men’s 100 metres breaststroke at Tokyo 2020.

Arlene Foster, the former Stormont First Minister and ex-leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, will be made a Dame Commander for public and political service.

Australian TV presenter and comic, Adam Hills, will be made an MBE for services to Paralympic sport and disability awareness  

The 52-year-old is best known for hosting Channel 4’s The Last Leg with Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker.