London - The father of the World Wide Web was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on Friday, and said his revolutionary invention was the result of being in the right place at the right time.
"I suppose it's amazing when you think how many things people get involved in that don't work. It's very heartening that this one actually did," said Tim Berners-Lee, who was accompanied to the investiture at Buckingham Palace by his wife and two children.
But he added: "I'm very aware I was in the right place at the right time."
While working at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory near Geneva in the late 1980s, Berners-Lee developed the architecture of the Internet - the Web system of servers and browsers - which he distributed free of charge.
He has worked ever since to ensure that the Web remains public domain.
"The Web must remain a universal medium open to all and not biasing the information it conveys," he said.
His knighthood, for services to the Internet, was announced by Buckingham Palace last December.
British-born Berners-Lee, who is now based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said members of the royal family were not technophobes.
"I think the family is pretty knowledgeable about it," he said. "I've met the Duke (of Edinburgh) before, and he was well aware of the history of IT." - Sapa-AP