THE HEIR to the Throne met the hair to the throne when a community member picked up a top gong. Tony Antoniou, of The Hairways hairdressing studio, Willesden High Road, proved he is a cut above the rest when he picked up his MBE from Prince Charles on F

THE HEIR to the Throne met the hair to the throne when a community member picked up a top gong.

Tony Antoniou, of The Hairways hairdressing studio, Willesden High Road, proved he is a cut above the rest when he picked up his MBE from Prince Charles on Friday.

Mr Antoniou received the accolade at Buckingham Palace for his years of tireless service striving to make Brent a safer place.

Mr Antoniou said: "There is a procedure you have to learn beforehand about how to approach him and address him. You start off calling him your Highness and then refer to him as Sir after that.

"When it was my turn we talked about crime prevention and he said how proud he was and that I should keep it up.

"After, you go and sit down with all the others and then they play the national anthem and Prince Charles leaves. As he left he looked right at me, smiled and gave a little bow so I gave one back. It meant so much to me and it was truly breathtaking to get that extra recognition from him."

Mr Antoniou made his way to Buckingham Palace for 10am where he worked on practising his footsteps and met a number of military top brass.

The delighted community worker said: "It finished at about 12.30 in the afternoon but it just flew by. When you get there you are given two minutes training what to do and just hope you get it right.

"The palace was enormous. They had a huge Christmas tree which had a number of little crowns on it. It looked fantastic.

"My wife supported me all the way through the day. This award is for the whole of the community because they made it happen. I just love working for the better of the borough.

"It was an absolute honour to receive this award from Prince Charles. I had a look at his hair and he has a very tidy, nice and smart haircut!"

alex.wellman@archant.co.uk