Sue was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year Honours, in recognition for services to the environment and horticulture.

On Thursday 16 March, she was presented with her award at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, performed by HRH The Prince of Wales.

Sue has been Director General of the RHS since 2010, having previously worked in the travel industry - heading up Kuoni for 25 years.

Since her appointment seven years ago, she has transformed the 213-year-old gardening charity: increasing the reach of its community gardening campaigns to enrich lives and make the UK more beautiful, growing its membership to 475,000, restructuring its management and embarking on a £160 million investment programme into the future of horticulture.

The investment will help to create a more sustainable and better society now and for generations to come: a major new garden, RHS Garden Bridgewater, will be created in Salford, gardening science will better equip us to deal with pests and diseases, and the RHS will support community and urban gardening in an even more direct and meaningful way.

Sue says: "I feel very fortunate to work in an organisation with such remarkable people promoting something I feel so passionate about, and this award belongs as much to them as me.

"I’m extremely proud to receive a CBE and see this also as recognition of the impact gardening and horticulture can have to make the UK a happier, healthier and better place to live"