Queen Jill Kirwin walked the red carpet, with a crown and sceptre

Jill Kirwin, who works at Oakley School in Tunbridge Wells, has served about 900,000 meals in her time - but on Monday someone else cooked her lunch.

"I am absolutely overwhelmed," she said after the surprise ceremony, in which she was crowned by Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, Jennie Paulson-Ellis.

"The quality of her work is fantastic," said school principal Martin Absolom.

Red carpet

"I don't just mean the food, but the way she interacts with the children.

"She always has a smile and she is a very kind person."

Children at the special school presented Mrs Kirwin with hand-made cards and she took a turn on a red carpet laid in the school hall for the occasion.

Mrs Kirwin said she has seen many changes since she first became a dinner lady.

"We were cooking all our own stuff then," she said.

"Then a lot of frozen food came in, but now we are going back to cooking all the traditional meals."