Queen Elizabeth II honoured Sir Edmund Hillary, the first to conquer Mount Everest, in a service of thanksgiving at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

The queen found out on June 2, 1953, the day of her coronation, that Hillary had conquered the highest mountain in the world three days earlier. The mountaineer was knighted for his achievement by the Queen, who later named him a Knight of the Garter in 1995.

"For my father, his long association with the royal family since the coronation [in 1953] and [his conquest of] Everest gave him great pleasure and honour. He was grateful for the friendship," Peter Hillary said, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Members of Hillary’s family together with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark attended the service at St.George’s Chapel, celebrating the life of Hillary, who climbed on the Everest in 1953, guided by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Sherpa Norgay’s son was also present at the ceremony.

The mountaineer died of a heart attack at the age of 88, and his ashes were scattered in Auckland Harbor, following a state funeral.

The absence of any member of the British Royal family at Hillary’s funeral was considered a snub by several New Zealand and also British papers.