Sir Terry Pratchett 'flabbergasted'
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Terry Pratchett said he was "flabbergasted" to receive a knighthood. Skip related content
The writer, 60, who is best known for his hugely popular Discworld series of comic fantasy novels, received the honour for services to literature.
He has sold more than 55 million books worldwide and had his works translated into 33 languages.
Pratchett said: "There are times when phrases such as 'totally astonished' just don't do the job.
"I am of course delighted and honoured and, needless to say, flabbergasted."
The author shocked his fans when he announced in December 2007 that he had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease.
He has since campaigned to raise awareness of the condition and improve research funding.
Pratchett published his first novel, The Carpet People, in 1971, although he did not take up writing books full time until 1987. His career as a novelist really took off after the publication of the first Discworld book, The Colour of Magic, in 1983.
The Discworld novels are set in a parallel universe supported on the back of four elephants that stand on the shell of a giant turtle, which bears more than a passing resemblance to our own.
This year Pratchett donated half a million pounds to the Alzheimer's Research Trust and became a patron of the charity.
