Piers Morgan tells Chris Evans ‘I think we’re lucky to have had this remarkable Queen’

Virgin Radio

12 Sep 2022, 10:56

Piers Morgan spoke to Chris Evans today (September 12th) on Virgin Radio to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, and to look ahead to life under King Charles III.

Last week, the broadcaster, journalist and writer returned to his TalkTV show, Piers Morgan: Uncensored, after his summer break. On his show, he paid an unscripted tribute to the Queen. Speaking to Chris about Britain’s longest reigning monarch, who died last week aged 96, he said: “I think people are a lot sadder, perhaps, than they imagined they might be. I think a lot of the scenes have been very emotional. Yesterday, watching the hearse going through Scotland, I thought when the farmers put all the tractors out as a guard of honour, I found that very moving.” 

Piers continued: “Princess Anne, for six hours, following her mother in a car behind the hearse, looking completely grief-stricken, it reminded me that this is a family who have lost two great rocks of their family in two years. They’ve lost Prince Philip, they’ve lost the Queen, and I think we should remember that this is a real family who have lost these two extraordinary people in rapid succession. So, I found it all very moving.” 

Paying tribute to the Her Majesty, the TalkTV presenter said: “She was such an all-encompassing presence in our lives, from our stamps, to our bank notes, to every major event, there she was, this rock of stability, and now she’s gone, and now we move our attention to the new King, who I think, for the record, will be fantastic.”

Speaking about what the Queen represented, the journalist said: “She represented to me, the very best of British characteristics. You know, stoicism, resilience, duty, service, thinking about others, putting others before yourself… and I’m by no means suggesting I’ve lived up to half of these on occasions.”

He continued: “So, I think it’s a good moment actually to recognise the Queen’s values are actually what made this country great, and that, actually, if more of us adopted more of the Queen’s values, including humility, hard work commitment to the country and so on, I think we’d all be in a better shape. So I think it’s a good moment to reset, reflect, and think ‘What can we learn from this Queen? Why was she able to reign for 70 years and be so spectacularly popular both here and around the world?’

“And of course one of the key reasons, which King Charles III will have to adopt now, we never knew what she thought. We never knew what she thought about hot button political issues. And so by not being politically partisan, she immediately managed to be unifying, and anyone who takes in a royal role, a politically partisan position is going to immediately alienate half the country. So, the Queen’s magic is that we didn’t know that much about what she really thought, and we’re going to have to get to that place with King Charles III.”

Remembering one such moment when the Queen acted in a unifying way, Piers told Chris: “Outside of her annual Christmas speech, she only spoke to the nation four times. Really quite remarkable. I thought the most powerful of those was the speech she gave at the height of the pandemic, when this country was gripped in fear, thousands of people were dying every day, we were locked down from friends and family, people were alone, isolated, and feeling really fearful, and she went on television and spoke for under five minutes, but I can remember almost every word of that speech. And when she quoted Vera Lynn, ‘We will meet again,’ I don’t think there was a dry eye in the country. She just managed to perfectly encapsulate what we needed to hear, in a way that Churchill did in the second World War.”

Looking to the future, Piers - whose TalkTV show airs weekdays at 8pm - said: “I think we’re lucky to have had this remarkable Queen, and I think we’re going to be lucky to have this King. He’s the longest apprentice-in-waiting for any job in history, and he’s learnt, of course, at the seat of the master, Queen Elizabeth II, his mother. I think he’ll be very, very good, and I think the monarchy is in safe hands.” 

Watch Piers Morgan: Uncensored weeknights at 8pm on TalkTV. 

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or  catch up on-demand here.