Retired farmer Raymond Addington has spoken of his pride in his soldier grandson Capt Ed Addington as he battles back from serious injuries sustained in Afghanistan.

The 27-year-old, who was caught in a blast from an IED (improvised explosive device), was among the guests invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen on Tuesday.

His grandfather, who lives in Castle Court in Marlborough, said: “I am very proud of my grandson and thrilled that he was invited to meet the Queen.

“It’s getting on for a year since he was injured and he is still receiving treatment which he has put up with cheerfully. He is a wonderful example to us all.”

Mr Addington, 91, formerly farmed at Hilmarton, near Calne, on land which his son Peter and wife Rosemary now run, and where Capt Addington lives when he is on leave.

Last December Capt Addington was caught in an explosion while serving in the Sangin area with 2 Rifles.

The blast broke both his legs and his left arm and left him with a head injury and collapsed lung. He spent nine weeks in the military hospital in Selly Oak, initially in intensive care, before being transferred to the Headley Court military rehabilitation centre near Epsom.

On Tuesday he was accompanied by his parents when he met the Queen at her garden party.

Capt Addington said the Queen asked him about his recuperative treatment at Headley Court and especially about using the centre’s Help for Heroes swimming pool, which her grandson Prince William opened recently.

Capt Addington said: “She was clearly very knowledgeable about the importance of swimming for people recovering from leg injuries.”

The Queen asked Capt Addington about his service and about how the troops deal with the threat of IEDs.

Although he is able to walk a few steps, Capt Addington was in a wheelchair when he met the Queen and his hospital treatment is far from over.

His future in the Army, he said, would depend on the outcome of further surgery to one of his legs.

“I could be facing an amputation 12 months from now,” he said. “How that surgery goes will decide what I do in the future. I have got a pulse so I can’t complain too much.”

Capt Addington is planning to combine his ongoing rehabilitation with studying for a masters degree in international relations at the University of York.