Jack Lee awarded King Charles III Coronation Medal

Jack Lee, the greatest competitive piper in Canadian history, was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in a ceremony on December 21, 2024, for services to piping and the community after he was nominated by the Surrey, British Columbia, Police Service.

Member of Parliament Ken Hardie, who represents Surrey in Ottawa, made the presentation to the 66-year-old Lee in Surrey, British Columbia. Lee’s wife, Christine, three sons, three daughters-in-law, and five grandchildren attended the ceremony.

The King Charles III Coronation Medal was created in 2023 and is awarded to 30,000 people worldwide who contribute significantly to their communities. British Columbia Premier David Eby, the executive council, the Speaker of the legislative assembly, and members of the legislative assembly participate in awarding the medals.

Jack Lee has held a place as one of the world’s elite solo competition pipers for nearly 50 years and counting. Among his prizes are both Highland Society of London Gold Medals, the Clasp at the Northern Meeting, the Senior Piobaireachd at the Argyllshire Gathering, three Bratach Gorms, for Silver Star Former Winners MSRs at Inverness, three times the winner of the Glenfiddich Championship, and a record 15-time winner of the Memorial Cairn at the BC Annual Gathering.

“I have been a very fortunate person, able to spend much of my life playing and helping others play the bagpipes.” – Jack Lee

He has been voted Piper of the Year and Solo Competition Piper of the Year three times each in the annual pipes|drums New Year’s Honours.

“It was really a great honour to be nominated for the King Charles III Coronation Medal,” Lee said. “I feel that I have been a very fortunate person, able to spend much of my life playing and helping others play the bagpipes. I was very appreciative that my entire immediate family came out to the ceremony.”

Lee’s teaching efforts are seemingly inexhaustible, as are his nearly 50 years as pipe-sergeant of Grade 1 Simon Fraser University. His Lee & Sons Bagpipes business has become a major manufacturer and innovator of pipe bags, and BagpipeMusic.com now boasts more than 10,000 scores and sound files, each compiled and recorded by Lee himself.

Piping medals aren’t the only awards he’s previously received. In 2013, he was presented with an honourary doctorate from Simon Fraser University, and in 2011 was awarded Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal at a national ceremony in Ottawa.

Lee’s King Charles III Coronation Medal comes shortly after Andy Rogers of Fredericton, New Brunswick, received the award for his services to piping, teaching, and the community.