Singer Tom Jones Is Knighted

Welsh singer Tom Jones is getting used to meeting Queen Elizabeth II but Wednesday was something special as she dubbed him, "Sir Tom."

The 65-year-old singer, a coal miner's son from the Welsh town of Pontypridd, received the honor from the queen at Buckingham Palace.

Jones said he had met the British monarch "six or seven times, maybe more," starting with a royal charity performance in 1966.

"I love seeing the queen and I have always been a royalist," Jones said after the investiture. "She is lovely and she still is lovely."

The big-voiced belter, who was accompanied by his son, daughter and granddaughter, said receiving the knighthood was "just tremendous."

"When you first come into show business and you get a hit record, it is the start of something," he said.

"As time goes on, it just gets better. This is the best thing that I have had. It is a wonderful feeling, a heady feeling.

"Sometimes you just can't believe it, you think you have been dreaming."

Born Thomas Jones Woodward, Jones began his singing career at age 3. His string of hits started with "It's Not Unusual" in 1965, and includes "What's New, Pussycat?," "Green, Green Grass of Home," "Help Yourself," "She's a Lady," and "Never Fall in Love Again,"