CLARE Balding admitted she was left a gibbering wreck as the Princess Royal presented her with an OBE for a dazzling career in broadcasting.
An attack of nerves saw the normally calm and accomplished TV personality fluff her curtsey to Anne and almost trip up during the investiture ceremony staged at Windsor Castle.
Balding, 42, who was joined by her partner, Alice Arnold, at the Queen's Berkshire home, said after the ceremony that she ''got terribly nervous'', adding: ''I'm still a bit shaky now, I talked absolute gibberish, absolute gibberish - I was just hopeless.''
Balding was recognised for work outside racing circles last summer, playing a major part in the BBC's coverage of the London Olympics and later the Paralympics on Channel 4.
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