A WOMAN from Llandudno who was invited to the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday (May 6) said she enjoyed an “absolutely fabulous” experience.

Val Conway, 79, was in attendance at Westminster Abbey for the ceremony, after being awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2021 new year’s honours list for her decades of charity work.

Though she attended the coronation alone, she and her fiancée spent much of the bank holiday weekend in London, travelling by train from Llandudno Junction on May 4 and returning home on May 7.

North Wales Pioneer: Val with the invitation to the coronation she receivedVal with the invitation to the coronation she received (Image: Val Conway)

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She said: “It was absolutely fabulous. We had a fantastic few days, from start to finish, but the coronation was amazing.

“I was sat in The Quire aisle, just around the corner from where he was being crowned, and it was just so awesome to be there.

“I saw lots of people – Rishi Sunak, Lionel Richie… Lionel Richie touched me on the shoulder and said: ‘Well, hello!’ to me!”

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Val received her BEM at a ceremony at Taverners Court, Llandudno in early 2022, having been nominated by Aberconwy Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied (PHAB) Club.

She has supported Aberconwy PHAB Club for nearly four decades, and has also helped the Shine charity, which provides support for spina bifida and hydrocephalus sufferers, for more than 50 years.

Her daughter, Susie, was born paralysed from the waist down and had to spend her life in a wheelchair, suffering from spina bifida and hydrocephalus before her death at the age of 32 in 2001.

Since then, Val started an annual “Susie Sunshine Walk” along Llandudno’s promenade.