Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis to be knighted at Windsor Castle

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis is to be knighted by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle for services to music and charity.

Former England cricketers Stuart Broad and Lydia Greenway will also be recognised by Anne during Tuesday’s investiture ceremony.

Dairy farmer Mr Eavis, 88, hosted the first festival on Worthy Farm, Somerset, in 1970 and the event is still held there today.

It is the largest greenfield festival in the world, drawing around 200,000 people each year, the biggest musical talent and a raft of celebrity guests.

In an interview with the official Glastonbury website, Sir Michael said his daughter Emily, with whom he runs the festival, had brought him the official letter about his knighthood, adding: “I was really surprised to see it, actually. Why did they choose me, I wonder?

“What can I say, really? I’ve done quite a lot of stuff in my life and I’ve always been fairly sure that I was doing the right thing.”

Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid all receive donations from the festival and the event aims to raise around £2 million per year, which also helps hundreds of local causes.

In 2023, the festival donated more than £3.7 million to a range of charitable causes and campaigns including homelessness organisation Centrepoint, food redistributors Fareshare, several refugee charities and mental health charity Mind.

Broad, the second-highest England Test wicket-taker, will be made a CBE for services to cricket.

He announced he was retiring from the sport during the fifth Ashes Test last summer and bowed out in spectacular fashion.

The 37-year-old hit a six off his final ball and took the final wicket as England won the match to level the series, although Australia retained the urn.

Broad was second in the public vote for the BBC’s 2023 Sports Personality of the Year in December and has been focusing on fatherhood and television punditry since retiring from the game.

Greenway, who won 225 caps across three formats for England before retiring in 2016, will be made an OBE for services to cricket.

After retiring, she founded the Cricket for Girls academy, which works with schools and clubs to provide training for coaches and teachers and to inspire young female players.