Eastern Daily Press editor Peter Franzen has collected his OBE from Buckingham Palace.

The 57-year-old received the honour for services to journalism after working for Archant for more than 30 years.

He attended the ceremony with his wife Kate and his two sons, Oliver and Sam (pictured), after being nominated for the medal in the New Year Honours List.

As he picked up the award he was praised by the Prince of Wales.

Peter said: “The Prince said it was good to see a friendly face from the media and he hoped that the EDP, which he always read when staying at Sandringham, would continue with all its good works in the community.

“I felt very proud to receive the award, not just personally, but on behalf of the EDP and regional journalism in general.”

In his 34 years with the company, Peter has held a number of senior posts, including executive editor of the EDP and editor of the Great Yarmouth Mercury.

Under his stewardship the paper has risen to become England’s best-selling regional morning newspaper, winning the title of Regional Newspaper of the Year and many other accolades, including Best Front Page of the Year and the Plain English Campaign media award.

In 1996 Peter led the paper’s change in format from broadsheet to compact size, and in September 1997 it was the first regional newspaper in the country to publish a Saturday colour magazine. This was followed in 1999 by a monthly glossy magazine.

Another first for the EDP under his editorship was differential pricing depending on the days of the week.

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