VIDEO: Delia Smith made CBE by Prince Charles

Norwich City joint majority shareholder Delia Smith has told how it was a “great honour” to receive her CBE today.

The celebrity chef was named in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to food earlier this year and received the honour from the Prince of Wales at the Buckingham Palace investiture.

Ms Smith, already an OBE was made a CBE after 40 years of cookery writing, said: “There are so many people who do so much but to be picked out amongst them is a great honour.

“I think the main thing is what my husband said, he said it's sort of a tribute to home cooks all over Britain.

“I still love cooking. I don't like it, like all of us, when you've done a hard day's work and got to rush home and get a meal on the table, then it's not much fun.

“But if I've got nothing to do and can lock myself in the kitchen for a couple of hours with the radio on then I love it.”

Through her recipes and popular television programmes Smith, 68, has become a culinary institution, teaching the nation to cook and bake for 40 years.

Her books - including Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course and How to Cheat at Cooking - have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

Her shows are avid viewing for foodies and kitchen novices alike and can influence the buying habits of shoppers if they feature personal recommendations.

Ms Smith brought out her first recipe book, How to Cheat at Cooking, in 1971, and began her TV career two years later with a BBC series called Family Fare.

The first part of her Cookery Course was published in 1978 and was followed by two more instalments.

Ms Smith has published many more cookbooks including volumes focusing on Christmas, summer and winter recipes, and the hugely popular How to Cook series.

The TV chef said she has made a one-hour Christmas special covering festive cooking which will be screened later in the year.