Norfolk's new high sheriff became one of the latest in a long line of sheriffs to be literally 'hand pricked' by the Queen during an ancient ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Last November, Georgina Holloway of Whissonsett, near Dereham, was nominated in a ceremony at London's High Court to take her place in history as one of the latest incumbents of the oldest secular office in Britain.

And on Wednesday that nomination was officially confirmed by the Queen as she used a silver bodkin to 'prick' her name on a list of all new high sheriffs for England and Wales written on parchment.

In the weeks following this ceremony, the high sheriff will make a declaration in accordance with the 1887 Sheriffs Act and take office after that.

Legend has it that the silver bodkin used to this day to 'prick' the names of the sheriffs on the list was originally used by Queen Elizabeth I, who was embroidering when she was asked to mark the names on the list. She couldn't find a pen so used the bodkin instead to prick them.