Royal correspondent
WIGAN COUNCILBilly Boston at the unveiling of a statue to him in Wigan in 2016
Rugby league legend Billy Boston is set to receive a knighthood at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, ending the sport's 130-year wait for such an honour.
The sport's first knighthood is being awarded before the King's birthday honours are officially announced later this week, because of concerns over Boston's health.
The Cardiff-born player, 90, was one of the greatest stars of rugby league and a trailblazer for black sports stars when he played for Wigan and Great Britain in the 1950s and 1960s.
The move follows growing frustration over the lack of rugby league knighthoods or damehoods, with a group of cross-party MPs suggesting the lack of top honours was linked to snobbery.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the knighthood represented an "historic milestone".
"The first knighthood for a rugby league player is long-overdue recognition for a game that has contributed so much to our national life.
"This is the moment we right a historic wrong," she said.
Billy Boston, the former Wigan player, who has been living with dementia, is expected to be accompanied at the Palace by his family and representatives of his former club.
Investiture ceremonies often take place months after the honours have been announced.
But very unusually, and reflecting concerns about his health, Boston's knighthood is being awarded before the latest round of honours has been publicly announced.
Wigan Warriors' chairman Chris Brookes said: "I am absolutely delighted and so happy that Billy - and rugby league - has finally received the ultimate recognition his stellar career deserves."
Boston is one of the sport's legends, after winning three Challenge Cups and scoring 24 tries in 31 appearances for Great Britain. He has also been praised for helping to open doors for black players in the sport.
Brookes said Boston had scored 478 tries in 487 matches for the team - but had remained the "most modest of men" even though he was the "most revered player of our wonderful sport".
Getty ImagesBilly Boston was a prolific try scorer for Wigan and Great Britain
The sport's governing body, the Rugby Football League, told the BBC last month that its players had been "poorly treated" by the honours system.
The Speaker of the House of Commons , Sir Lindsay Hoyle, joined protests over the lack of knighthoods for rugby players, saying it "cannot be right" when other sports, including rugby union, have had such honours "quite regularly".
A cross-party group of MPs had claimed the lack of knighthoods a "scandal" linked to snobbery and class prejudice.
David Baines, chair of the all-party Parliamentary rugby league group, had said he suspected it was because "they come from working class backgrounds, didn't go to the right schools, and didn't mix in the right social circles".
A BBC analysis earlier this year revealed that a disproportionately low number of top honours, such as knighthoods and damehoods, were going to people from the north of England and working class backgrounds - which overlaps with the rugby league heartlands.
It emerged last week that ex-footballer David Beckham is also set to receive a knighthood.
