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Greg Evans
Sep 09, 2022
Moment BBC News announces Queen Elizabeth II's death
BBC News
BBC News anchor Huw Edwards has been widely praised for how he handled the announcement of the Queen's death on Thursday.
The veteran presenter said just after 6:30 pm on Thursday evening: "This is BBC News from London. Buckingham Palace has announced the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
"In a statement, the palace said 'the Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The king and the queen consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.
"BBC television is broadcasting this special programme reporting the death of her majesty the Queen."
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The 61-year-old from Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales has worked with the BBC since 1984 and began presenting the Six O'Clock News in 1999. Viewers called his announcement of the Queen's passing a 'masterclass' and there have been calls for him to receive a knighthood.
Alastair Campbell, the former spokesperson for Tony Blair and the host of The Rest is Politics podcast, revealed on Twitter that Edwards had told him that he had been preparing for this day for months.
Campbell wrote: "@thehuwedwards told me a few months ago he had been preparing, practising and even rehearsing in front of his bathroom mirror for this moment for some time. He said too that the Queen’s death would be the biggest challenge to @BBCNews in its history. He did superbly"
\u201c.@thehuwedwards told me a few months ago he had been preparing, practising and even rehearsing in front of his bathroom mirror for this moment for some time. He said too that the Queen\u2019s death would be the biggest challenge to @BBCNews in its history. He did superbly 1/2\u201d— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@ALASTAIR CAMPBELL) 1662711139
The journalist added: "I am out of the country and have not seen much of the BBC coverage but @schooltruth tells me he has been 'absolutely brilliant'. Which should surprise nobody."
Edwards is yet to respond to the praise for him but numerous peers and viewers have lauded his performance on Thursday.
\u201cI have known @thehuwedwards for 30+ years from when we were young,ambitious political correspondents. At times it was like the Hunger Games as we all fought (each other) to get on air. But tonight his tone on coverage of #QueenElizabeth death has been magnificent. Kudos Huw\u201d— Jon Sopel (@Jon Sopel) 1662666093
\u201cAlso, respect to Huw Edwards. He\u2019s just done about a 72 hour straight live shift for the change of PMs. And anchored the 10 O\u2019clock all week. He must be utterly exhausted. Dimbleby-esque stamina & professionalism.\u201d— Rory Bremner \ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Rory Bremner \ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1662648956
\u201cHuw Edwards has done an incredible job, and I mean this mostly unironically, of being visibly and audibly on air while saying absolutely nothing at all for several hours - an extraordinary feat, like Molly Bloom's monologue\u201d— Caspar Salmon (@Caspar Salmon) 1662649257
\u201cHuw Edwards has just spent four long days anchoring rolling covering of a change of Prime Minister and the death of the monarch\u2026 and he has barely dropped a syllable. A national treasure.\u201d— Darryl Morris \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Darryl Morris \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1662664389
\u201cIt\u2019s really an amazing performance by Huw Edwards. A masterclass in whatever the opposite might be of comedy improvisation, in extended sombreness.\u201d— David Baddiel (@David Baddiel) 1662660605
\u201cA word for Huw Edwards. Wouldn\u2019t want to be listening to anyone else\u2019s voice right now. Peerless.\u201d— Nick Mullins (@Nick Mullins) 1662659505
\u201cWell done @thehuwedwards. What a shift.\u201d— Rachel Wearmouth (@Rachel Wearmouth) 1662676586
The UK will now enter a period of mourning to mark the Queen's death. The Royal Family have confirmed that a period of mourning will last for seven days after the Queen's funeral, the date of which is yet to be confirmed.
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