Sir Ian Rankin receives knighthood at Buckingham Palace

Crime writer Sir Ian Rankin said it was "absolutely thrilling" to be honoured with a knighthood at Buckingham Palace.

Sir Ian, creator of Det Insp John Rebus was knighted for services to literature and charity on Tuesday.

The University of Edinburgh graduate, 63, is known for his crime novels focused on Rebus, which are mostly based in and around the Scottish capital.

Rebus now features in 26 books, the first published in 1987.

Sir Ian was knighted by the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace.

The crime writer, originally from Fife, said he was initially "bemused" when told about the knighthood "because a few years ago I was given an OBE and I probably thought that's about as much as I can expect."

He added: "I was very happy with that - but this was absolutely thrilling.

"And the fact that it was for charity work, or charitable giving, as well as the output of books was especially good because my wife and I have run a charitable foundation for quite a few years now but anonymously.

"Well, someone's outed us now, I guess. Someone must have put me forward for this."

Queen Camilla also gave him the royal seal of approval, saying her whole family had read the books, the writer added.

Sir Ian said he is taking a year off before beginning work on the next instalment of the Rebus series.