The 39-year-old was awarded the prestigious honour a year ago for services to snooker and charity work, and he finally got to receive his medal from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle this week.
The Jester from Leicester has become an all-time great of his sport, winning the World Championship four times and nearly making it a fifth earlier this month when he was beaten by Luca Brecel in the Crucible final.
It has been an immense career so far for Selby and there is plenty more to come, but on receiving his MBE, he said it was an emotional time as he looked back on his humble beginnings playing snooker in Leicester.
‘From where I’ve come from being a young lad just playing snooker, I never thought it would come to this – quite an emotional day, really,’ he said.
Selby has been open about battling mental health struggles over the last 18 months, but problems that stretch back much further than that.
While he didn’t quite claim a fifth world title this year, returning to the final and looking very good doing so was a massive stepping stone for him, having previously admitted that he thought he may never return to the elite level.
‘To get to the final is such a huge achievement,’ Selby said.
‘It is such a tough tournament to win over a few weeks, physically and mentally tiring, so to get back to the final after winning was a great achievement, and hopefully I can kick on from that into the new season.’
Selby and Judd Trump were awarded the MBE last year and speaking at the time, the Jester said: ‘To receive an MBE is one of the proudest moments of my life. It is an incredible honour.
‘I have always put everything I have into snooker and also tried to help the fantastic charities I am connected with. For someone like me, from an unprivileged background, to achieve a lot and to be recognised with an MBE hopefully gives inspiration to others.’
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