Ed Sheeran is set to be honoured by the Queen, say palace officials.

The Suffolk singer has been invited to Buckingham Palace on Thursday to collect his MBE.

Sheeran, 26, from Framlingham, was included in the Queen's birthday honours in June for services to charity and music. He tweeted at the time he was 'chuffed'.

His citation chronicles a musical career which has seen him go from busking to win Ivor Novello and Grammy Awards and perform sell-out shows at Maddison Square Gardens, in New York.

Closer to home, it adds: 'An ambassador for East Anglia's Children's Hospice, he has donated clothes to the St Elizabeth Hospice charity shop in Framlingham, including eight bags of clothes to the shop in 2014, and eight items of clothing he wore at the 2015 Grammy Awards.'

Around 25 investitures are held each year. Most are hosted by the Queen or Prince of Wales.

Each is attended by more than 50 recipients. And each follows a set Royal procedure steeped in tradition.

Buckingham Palace says: 'The Queen, or member of the Royal Family hosting the investiture, enters the room attended by The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the guard.

'The National Anthem is played, and then the military band or orchestra continues to play a variety of music while the recipients are called forward one-by-one, usually by the Lord Chamberlain.

'The member of the Royal Family places the decoration on the person and congratulates them on their honour.'

Sheeran is the latest in a long line of pop stars to be honoured. They include Roger Daltrey (CBE), Bob Geldhof (honorary knighthood), Cliff Richard (knighthood) and Robert Plant (CBE).

But not all have accepted. The late David Bowie declined both a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) and a knighthood.

Honours are said to be presented to those who have made life better for others or are outstanding at what they do.

Whether someone gets an honour - and the honour they get - is decided by an honours committee. The committee's recommendations go to the Prime Minister to be endorsed and then to the Queen, who awards the honour.