Image Credit: PA Media
The Chairman of the UK’s largest independent funeral directors has officially been bestowed with a prestigious national honour awarded to him in person by the Princess Royal, in recognition of his services to the bereaved. Nigel Lymn Rose MBE, Company Chairman of A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service and fourth generation of the family business, was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in The King’s New Year 2026 Honours list. He recently attended his Investiture Ceremony at Windsor Castle, with his wife and children, where he was received by Princess Anne, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal. Nigel has dedicated more than 50 years of his life to the bereaved in Nottinghamshire and South Derbyshire, often spearheading significant change, development and innovation in the sector. During his ceremony at Windsor Castle, Princess Anne focused on the work Nigel had done nationally over the decades representing the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) and his instrumental work with that organisation in the formation and work of the All Party Parliamentary Funeral and Bereavement Group in Westminster and the Cross Party Groups in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Nigel said: “Receiving such an accolade has truly been one of the greatest honours of my lifetime. This recognition came as a real surprise at the end of 2025 and is something which still feels very surreal to this day. Like many in my family, supporting the bereaved has always been a vocation for me, and a responsibility we have never taken lightly. Given this, I am so humbled to have received this award for our unwavering commitment to ensuring every person and family in our care receives the service and send-off they deserve, and to mark this milestone surrounded by my family at Windsor Castle is a day I will never forget.”
An Investiture Ceremony is the day someone who has been awarded an honour receives their award in person from a Member of the Royal Family. Around 30 Investitures are held each year, when the investee visits a Royal residence, usually Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, to receive their insignia. Nigel was just one of around 60 people to receive an honour in the Grand Reception Room at Windsor Castle during this ceremony, and was joined by his wife and A.W. Lymn Director Penny Lymn Rose, and their two children Matthew Lymn Rose, Managing Director, and Chloe Lymn Rose, Company Director as well as his nephew Ben Percival.
He added: “Receiving this recognition is a huge personal honour, but also a true reflection of the collective efforts of the Lymn Rose family, and all of our staff – past and present – who I have worked alongside. Ensuring we provide the highest quality of care for the deceased and the bereaved has been at the heart of what we do for more than one hundred years, and will always remain so. To be acknowledged for this is something for which I have immense gratitude and appreciation.”
A.W. Lymn, a fifth-generation family funeral directors, has been helping grieving families in the region for over a century. Nigel, the Lymn Rose family and its dedicated staff have been and remain a trusted funeral directors for thousands of families across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Operating 36 funeral homes across both counties and recently expanding into Leicestershire, it prides itself on offering a variety of services available at an affordable price to the families it has served since 1907. Image Credit: PA Media
