U.K. war hero Captain Tom Moore was on Friday knighted by the Queen for his outstanding contribution to the country's fight against COVID-19.

The unique private ceremony at Windsor Castle was the Queen's first official engagement in person since lockdown.

Moore set out to raise just £1,000 for the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) by walking 100 laps of his 25-metre garden, with the help of his walking frame, but his journey resonated with a public inundated with grim pandemic coverage and he became a global phenomenon.

Guinness World Records announced Moore had broken the record for raising the most money in an individual charity walk – more than £32 million.

Capt Sir Tom hailed his knighting as "the most special of days for me".

The U.K. is one of the world's worst-hit countries by the COVID-19 pandemic, having reported more than 294,000 infections and over 45,000 deaths by Friday afternoon.