Andrew Marr has spoken out about his emotional live reaction to the Queen’s death.
The broadcaster received confirmation of the monarch’s passing on Thursday (8 September) as he was live on the radio, hosting a special show in anticipation of the news after an earlier report of her ill health.
“I have to interrupt the programme to tell you that Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the Queen has died,” he told listeners on LBC, as his voice broke.
Audibly struggling to maintain his composure, Marr told listeners that the monarch had died “peacefully” while surrounded by her family.
“I said I’d lose it, and I did,” the broadcaster added, acknowledging his emotional state.
Marr appeared on Monday’s (12 September) edition of Good Morning Britain to speak about the moment, and he explained that part of his reaction came from remembering the death of his father.
“I’ve been asking myself ever since that, how embarrassed do I feel?” he began. “After all, we’re all meant to be professional broadcasters – we hold it together, we do the thing.
“And it was a huge moment, of course, but I think what was going through my mind was the death of my father, two years ago. I think, for a lot of people, they had that kind of connection – something like that had happened in their lives.”
Marr continued: “In a weird way, the Queen and the royal family are very far away from us, we have this strange, personal, emotional connection to that family. In a sense, it’s a very hackneyed phrase, ‘the Queen is the mother of the nation’, but there is something in that, and I think that’s what got to me.
“So, in the end, I’ve decided not to feel too embarrassed.”
Marr, who previously hosted on the BBC, went on to note that despite years of rehearsal for the announcement, he was caught off guard, nonetheless.
“The weird thing is, of course, it wasn’t a shock – she was 96,” he noted. “It wasn’t a surprise, but it was a shock, and that of course is because we have lived all our lives with the Queen as part of the backdrop.”
He also condemned the arrest of protesters who’ve expressed anti-monarchy sentiments in recent days.
On the reports, Marr said: “I think that is outrageous. We are a democratic country, we are an open, disputatious country where we can say what’s on our minds. I don’t believe, for a moment, this is what the new King would have wanted.”
You can follow along with live updates regarding the Queen’s death here.
