Painter's Windsor Castle fire medal to be auctioned

The medal was awarded on completion of restoration work to the castle

A gold medallion awarded to a painter and decorator who rescued some of the Queen's belongings during the Windsor Castle fire is set to be auctioned.

Peter O'Mara had been working at the castle in November 1992 when the blaze broke out.

A personal letter of thanks from the late Queen to Mr O'Mara will also go under the hammer when the sale takes place at Surrey-based John Nicholson's auction house on 12 June.

Mr O'Mara was given the medal in 1997 to commemorate the restoration of the castle.

The fire, which caused millions of pounds worth of damage, capped of the year famously labelled by Queen Elizabeth II as her "annus horribilis".

Mr O’Mara, from Camberley, was working for contractors Cousins Ltd on renovations at the castle when the alarm went off in the Queen’s private chapel.

He recalled how it was “all hands on deck."

The blaze capped of a year the late Queen labelled her "annus horribilis"

“At one time I was helping move the many precious artefacts from both sides of a long corridor," said Mr O'Mara.

"As we completed this task, I noticed a half-open door and went in looking for other items to remove.

"I could tell straight away the atmosphere was different here. The first thing I spied was an old-fashioned stereogram."

"As I looked around, I noticed two cardboard cut-outs either side of the fireplace. They were corgis and I suddenly realised where I was.

“I felt rather lucky as in no other circumstances would I ever have got to see the Queen’s apartment."

It took nine hours to get the fire under control, with contractors helping firefighters and Royal Household staff salvage everything they could.

Mr O'Mara returned to Windsor Castle soon after the blaze, with Cousins Ltd securing the contract to carry out a £36.5m, five year repair project.

It is estimated the medal, along with associated material, will fetch about £600.