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The Queen strips MBE recipient of honour - details

The retired lieutenant commander was given the honour in 2015

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Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
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An ex-Royal Navy officer has been stripped of his MBE by the Queen for defrauding his stepson of almost £60,000.

The Press Association reports that Iain Shepherd, of Bognor Regis, West Sussex was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court to three years and eight months in prison in July 2019, for faking his wife's signature to set up a secret bank account to siphon £58,895 from the inheritance fund of his stepson Joshua Powell.

The Falklands veteran was ordered to repay £19,497.  

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A notice on The Gazette official public record states: "The Queen has directed that the appointment of Iain Cochrane Shepherd to be a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated June 13 2015, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order."

The former Royal Navy officer was originally awarded the MBE by the Duke of Cambridge in 2015 for services to European maritime strategy.

Reacting to the Queen's decision, Iain's former wife Mary told The Portsmouth News: "I'm absolutely delighted his MBE has been taken away.

"He should never have been awarded it because he was an undeclared bankrupt, a liar and a cheat."

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The Queen during a royal engagement last week

Her Majesty also annulled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's honorary knighthood in 2008.

Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris was also stripped of his CBE in 2015 after he was found guilty of indecently assaulting four underage girls between 1968 and 1969 in 2014.

The Queen's Birthday Honours list was postponed this year amid the coronavirus pandemic. Fitness coach Joe Wicks and footballer Marcus Rashford were among the famous faces included in this year's honours.

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