Mother of Harry Dunn honoured with an MBE for road safety campaigns in his name
Since 2019 Charlotte Charles has campaigned for justice for Harry who was killed by US citizen Anne Sacoolas driving on the wrong side of the road near RAF Croughton
The mother of Harry Dunn, who was killed by an American driving on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, has receive an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours.
Charlotte Charles has received the accolade for her campaigns for road safety following her 19 year old son Harry's death in 2019.
Harry was riding his motorbike passed the US base, when he was struck by US citizen Anne Sacoolas who admitted to driving on the wrong side of the road.
She fled the country but later pleaded guilty of causing death by careless driving, when she attended trial by video link. Sacoolas was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
She had not attended the sentencing in person on the advice of the US government despite the request of the judge.
Charlotte, from Charlton near Banbury in Oxfordshire worked tirelessly to highlight Harry's death and get justice for him, even travelling to the US to meet with Donald Trump to ask Anne Sacoolas to face justice in the UK.
As well as campaigning for Harry she has also been shedding light on the issues of more US citizens being involved in other incidents of dangerous driving in other areas of the UK.
She spoke to us and told us she was so shocked when the envelope from the King arrived, adn never dreamed it would be an MBE inside:
"I saw on the envelope on His Majesty's Service and I thought, what have I done? I thought it might be jury service or something."
She left it on the side to to do the school run for her niece only opening it on her return when she said she broke down in tears:
"I automatically started crying because you know that fight you've had for so many years... the campaign was a real vehicle for my grief."
She says the pain of living with Harry is something she still lives with:
"I'm getting used to living with that campaign, but to be able to have the campaign and so many difference avenues we've gone down with it to focus my grief in has just been my saviour. Harry was my saviour. And his twin and my step-sons."
She says the road safety campaigning has always been her way of giving Harry a voice when he didn't have one.