Northern Ireland Olympic hero Dame Mary Peters further honoured by the Queen

Dame Mary, from Northern Ireland, won gold in the pentathlon at the 1972 Olympics and founded sports charity the Mary Peters Trust.
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - OCTOBER 08: Dame Mary Peters pictured as she attends the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier between Northern Ireland and San Marino at Windsor Park on October 8, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - OCTOBER 08: Dame Mary Peters pictured as she attends the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier between Northern Ireland and San Marino at Windsor Park on October 8, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - OCTOBER 08: Dame Mary Peters pictured as she attends the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier between Northern Ireland and San Marino at Windsor Park on October 8, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

She will become a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter- the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry.

Each year, Royal Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Garter gather at St George’s Chapel in Windsor for a colourful procession and ceremony.

Watched by crowds of onlookers, they walk down the hill to the chapel from the State Apartments, dressed in blue velvet mantles, red velvet hoods, black velvet hats and white ostrich plumes.

British track and field athletes David Hemery and Mary Peters with trophies awarded by the British Athletics Writers Association, UK, 29th October 1972. (Photo by Steve Wood/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)British track and field athletes David Hemery and Mary Peters with trophies awarded by the British Athletics Writers Association, UK, 29th October 1972. (Photo by Steve Wood/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
British track and field athletes David Hemery and Mary Peters with trophies awarded by the British Athletics Writers Association, UK, 29th October 1972. (Photo by Steve Wood/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Dame Mary is one of two new appointments announced by the palace.

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, the 7th Marquess of Salisbury, who is former chairman of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation, has been made a Knight Companion.

He organised the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames in 2012 to mark the Queen’s 60 years on the throne.

Here we look back at her career and life after the Olympics.

Pictures Getty Images