British DJ Goldie has been awarded with an MBE by The Prince of Wales for his contributions to music and the arts.

The 50 year old artist and musician, who also forged a brief sideline in film with appearances in movies like Snatch, and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, received the honour at an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday (February 24th).

“It's a bit of a shocker but a very, very beautiful thing to happen,” he said afterwards. “I think it also stands for what you can achieve - anything really. It was beautiful in there, just great. I’m very happy.”

GoldieGoldie received an MBE from the Prince of Wales on Wednesday (Feb 24)

He was announced as the recipient of an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List last month, and also spoke of what it felt like to be recognised. “It was a complete surprise to me [to get an MBE]. Why would they ever? It’s beautiful. I can see my old dear, Margaret [his mother], smiling – she passed last year. Who would ever have imagined I would be given this kind of silverware?”

Goldie made his breakthrough to the mainstream in 1995 with his debut album Timeless, from which his signature track ‘Inner City Life’, now considered one of the most important songs of the British electronic music scene in the ‘90s, was released and became a Top 40 hit.

However, he also made sure to emphasise that he would never have made it without support from government-funded programmes for youth, as he grew up in the care system in Walsall and moved between foster homes for a long time. He called for funding for arts to be protected from cuts as he feels that many other youngsters today are capable of exceeding his own achievements.

“Music and art well and truly saved my life - the light switched on when I discovered art,” he told reporters after the ceremony. “It is so important for young people - the arts need to be supported and I think there are so many Clifford Prices out there like me.”

“It's really important to understand it's nice to be recognised but it's also nice to say ‘that can work as leverage to make things better and change things’.”

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