CBE for TV's Esther Rantzen

ChildLine founder and broadcaster Esther Rantzen was made a CBE today, describing the award as a "tremendous honour."

The 66-year-old's television career stretches back over 40 years including the popular show That's Life!.

She launched ChildLine - the free national 24-hour helpline for children in distress or danger - in 1986.

Rantzen received her CBE from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace for services to young people.

She remains president of ChildLine, which receives more than 4,500 attempted calls a day.

Dressed in a striking crimson Cozmo Jenks hat decorated with a purple flower, Rantzen said: "It's a tremendous honour. Obviously there's a huge army of people who have provided services to children."

She added that she had been lucky to be in the position on television to raise awareness of the need to help children in danger.

Rantzen added that more needed to be done to cope with the thousands of calls that ChildLine receives every single day.

ChildLine, which had suffered financial difficulties, joined the NSPCC this year. Rantzen said: "Things were tough, we have to reach the stage where we can reach every child that needs us."

"We get 4,500 calls every day and we answer 2,300 of them."

"We've got to get to the stage where we can answer every child."

"If a child is desperate to reach us, then our nightmare is that they might not try again."

Of meeting Prince Charles, she added: "He talked about the importance of good causes being noticed. He sweetly said it was nice that my contribution had been noticed."

Rantzen paid tribute to her late husband Desmond Wilcox, who died at the age of 69 in 2000 after suffering from heart disease for many years.

"Alas the person who isn't here is my husband. He would have been so thrilled. We'll drink to him at lunch."

She was accompanied by their three children, Emily, 28, Rebecca, 26, and 25-year-old Joshua.