Prince William knights Sir Kevin Sinfield

The Prince of Wales knighted Sir Kevin Sinfield during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Sir Kevin Sinfield was one of 60 people to receive an honour from the Prince of Wales. Sir Kevin is a former England rugby league captain and motor neurone disease (MND) campaigner. He has raised more than £11m for charity, and he received his knighthood for his services to the MND community and for services to league and union rugby.

He told the BBC that he was “massively humbled by the whole experience” and “very proud to accept it on behalf of the MND community and their families.” He added that the Prince of Wales had been “fantastically supportive” of the campaign.

The Prince and Princess of Wales surprised Sir Kevin on the third day of his 7 in 7: The Grand Finale challenge last week as he completed seven ultra-marathons in seven days. He was inspired by Rob Burrow, a teammate and friend, who died in 2024 after being diagnosed with MND four years earlier.

Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace

Sir Kevin said, “I think [Prince William] champions pulling communities together, and I have seen how the MND community have come together on the back of Rob’s diagnosis and several other high-profile sportspeople over the last six or seven years. So his support and, obviously, Princess Catherine’s [sic] as well, they’ve been wonderful and bring a real credibility to what we’re trying to do.”

He was asked how Rob Burrow would have felt to receive a knighthood; he said, “I think he’d be laughing. I think he’d be enormously proud of the support behind a campaign that he started, and we continue in his name. I think he’d be really proud of it, the support, and the way people got behind what we tried to do, especially Prince William and Princess Catherine [sic], and several other high-profile figures across the UK and the world. On behalf of all the MND families, Rob would just be delighted at how we’ve pulled together.”