Uncensored - Piers Morgan - 20220602_piers-morgan-uncensored-the-platinum-jubilee
Aired: 2022-06-02
Duration: 45:07


=== Devotion to Imperial Family (01:55) ===

[00:00:05]  I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
[00:01:24]  Welcome to Piers Morgan on Sunday.
[00:01:25]  We thought we'd start tonight with a very special opening as a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen.
[00:01:29]  Thank you to the classical Brit nominee, Carly Paulie, and welcome to this special jubilee edition of the show.
[00:01:35]  It's been an amazing day.
[00:01:36]  I was down at the palace for the whole morning and afternoon watching all the proceedings and covering it for Fox and America.
[00:01:44]  And it was incredibly moving actually and very emotional in many ways to think that here's this lady, 96 years old, who came out after a lot of health issues, came out on the balcony twice to an absolutely roaring ovation from a packed mal.

=== Queen's Health Update (02:30) ===

[00:02:00]  And she had a beaming smile and looked like she was loving every minute of it with her family there.
[00:02:06]  Unfortunately, I have to reveal some sadder breaking news tonight, which is that the Queen has had a bit of a reaction physically to today.
[00:02:16]  And as a result, they just announced the palace that she will not be attending the Thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral tomorrow.
[00:02:24]  It's of course the national service of Thanksgiving.
[00:02:26]  The statement says the Queen greatly enjoyed today's birthday parade of Flypast, but did experience some discomfort, taking into account the journey and activity required to participate in tomorrow's national service of Thanksgiving, St Paul's Cathedral.
[00:02:39]  Her Majesty has with great reluctance concluded that she will not attend.
[00:02:43]  The Queen is looking forward to participating in tonight's beacon lighting event at Windsor Castle.
[00:02:48]  I would like to thank all of those who made today such a memorable occasion.
[00:02:52]  So it's not very serious or she wouldn't be dealing with the beacon lighting tonight, but she went back to Windsor Castle from Buckingham Palace, has clearly had some issues with this ongoing mobility problem that she's had.
[00:03:05]  And they clearly have factored in that going from Windsor to St Paul's tomorrow and then back is going to be too much for the Queen.
[00:03:12]  So she's pulled out of that with great reluctance.
[00:03:14]  And it's a great shame.
[00:03:15]  She's obviously the third leading figure to pull out of the Thanksgiving because the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, already had to pull out because he had COVID and pneumonia.
[00:03:26]  We wish him all the very best.
[00:03:28]  So the Archbishop of York is now officiating tomorrow morning.
[00:03:31]  And Prince Andrew, who was due to be there, which in itself would have been quite controversial, he's pulled out because he too has tested positive for COVID.
[00:03:40]  So it's turning into a rather ill-fated event, but it will still be going ahead.
[00:03:45]  And you will still have Charles and Camilla and you'll have William and Kate and you're going to have Harry and Megan and other royals there.
[00:03:52]  But it will not have now the principal player of Her Majesty the Queen.
[00:03:56]  That's a great show, particularly, as I say, after the wonderful day that we all saw today, where I think it was a magnificent tribute to this great lady.
[00:04:05]  I'm joined by Brian Blessed.
[00:04:07]  We were hoping to have a very sort of euphoric chat.
[00:04:12]  What a time to have Brian Blessed on it there.
[00:04:14]  She's feeling a bit ill at the moment.
[00:04:16]  Of course, I've come from home where I live, about half an hour away from here.
[00:04:20]  And I'm married to Hildegard Neal, the actress.
[00:04:23]  And she's very ill.
[00:04:25]  My wife, she's had cancer.
[00:04:26]  Then she's had pneumonia, got over there, and now pulmonary disease.

=== Princess Anne and Brian Blessed (15:54) ===

[00:04:30]  And she's having exactly what the Queen's got.
[00:04:33]  So, oh, God, it does make you mad sometimes.
[00:04:36]  You sometimes wish you were a god and you could put it all right.
[00:04:40]  But I feel very sorry to hear about your wife, Brian.
[00:04:44]  But she's going to be all right.
[00:04:45]  She's going to be all right.
[00:04:46]  She'll be fine.
[00:04:47]  She's the woman who played Cleopatra to Charlton Heston many years.
[00:04:51]  That beautiful woman.
[00:04:52]  And she's cheerful and lovely about it.
[00:04:54]  Please send her our very best.
[00:04:56]  Well, I'm not very good at handling illness because I'm always a keep-fit guy and this, that, and the other.
[00:05:01]  I'd just like to say that years ago, keeping the acting thing up, that Peter O'Toole, at his wildest moments, he said to me, you know, the queen, I've met her several times.
[00:05:18]  She's got something special.
[00:05:22]  He never praised anybody.
[00:05:24]  She was very special.
[00:05:25]  Has this amazing quality, Brian?
[00:05:29]  Oh, yes, she's very different.
[00:05:32]  She has.
[00:05:32]  What makes her special?
[00:05:34]  Because I agree.
[00:05:35]  And she's obviously now the longest reigning monarch we've had, longest reigning monarch the world has seen.
[00:05:41]  She's also now the oldest monarch that we've had.
[00:05:43]  She's 96.
[00:05:45]  Obviously, we probably won't have any other jubilees for this queen, but what a remarkable reign that she was.
[00:05:51]  I'll give you an instance.
[00:05:52]  I mean, of course, I'm 85.
[00:05:54]  She's 95.
[00:05:55]  I mean, I'm young at 85.
[00:05:57]  And of course, I saw her father.
[00:05:59]  I'm a war baby.
[00:06:01]  And I lived in Goldfort between Don Castro and Barnes.
[00:06:04]  So that after the war, along came George VI.
[00:06:07]  He came into Goldfort.
[00:06:08]  I'm waving a little flag.
[00:06:10]  And he gave me, got out of his car and gave me a sixpence.
[00:06:13]  Really?
[00:06:13]  George?
[00:06:14]  Yes, and he looked so pale.
[00:06:16]  I thought, God, he looks so delicate and pale.
[00:06:21]  You know, and so it's astonishing that I met her father.
[00:06:28]  I'd rather say that, jump ahead to give an idea of her.
[00:06:32]  She frequently came to see cats, the musical, and I was old Deuteronomy.
[00:06:37]  I knock on the door.
[00:06:38]  I had a gay dresser who was covered in cancer, poor son, you know, pressing all the lumps on his body.
[00:06:44]  Come on, live, live, live, and pour out the tea.
[00:06:47]  It's only way to treat him.
[00:06:48]  He looked so dreadful.
[00:06:49]  And the queen was coming.
[00:06:52]  As she's coming down the, we'd have the loo painted, we'd have the coroners painted, and she'd come have tea with me.
[00:06:58]  And my lovely gay dresser, very old, was having a heart attack.
[00:07:02]  She's coming.
[00:07:03]  She's coming down the corridor.
[00:07:04]  I said, it's all right.
[00:07:05]  She's all right.
[00:07:06]  Mom, we've painted the toilet.
[00:07:08]  We've done this.
[00:07:09]  Oh, thank you so much.
[00:07:09]  Well is it?
[00:07:10]  Oh, yeah.
[00:07:10]  And right, thank you.
[00:07:11]  I'll be back in a second.
[00:07:12]  And she came back and I said, he's not very well and he's terrified about meeting you.
[00:07:17]  Oh, don't worry.
[00:07:19]  I'll pour out the tea and coffee and biscuits.
[00:07:22]  How many sugars do you take?
[00:07:24]  Now you just relax.
[00:07:25]  And she took over the whole thing, made him feel happy, and she made tea for us, made cakes for us, cut them up.
[00:07:31]  How amazing.
[00:07:32]  And when you're one-on-one with the Queen, Brian, what's she like?
[00:07:36]  Well, I mean, she finds me very naughty.
[00:07:38]  Well, we all do.
[00:07:39]  I mean, she, you know, I mean, when she gave me the OB, what did she say?
[00:07:46]  What did the Queen say?
[00:07:47]  And she said, you know, she said, Mr. Blessed, you know.
[00:07:55]  wisdom of this.
[00:07:59]  I do believe that people have told me that you imitate me.
[00:08:03]  I said, no, I don't.
[00:08:04]  She said, you're such a liar.
[00:08:06]  The queen called you a liar.
[00:08:09]  And so that.
[00:08:11]  And I then talked about us about her son, Charles, I work with.
[00:08:16]  I'm an ambassador for him.
[00:08:17]  Yes.
[00:08:17]  Saving animals all over the world.
[00:08:19]  He's terrific.
[00:08:19]  He ain't Camilla.
[00:08:20]  Bloody marvelous people.
[00:08:23]  Tremendous.
[00:08:24]  He's green, We need him.
[00:08:27]  You did actually try and didn't you actually try and buy Camilla from him?
[00:08:31]  Well, I've always had a...
[00:08:32]  Well, let me...
[00:08:33]  I'm going to play you a damning clip where you literally tell the future Queen Consort that you tried to buy her.
[00:08:38]  Watch this.
[00:08:43]  I didn't say to your husband, can I buy you?
[00:08:50]  And she replied, you can have her for free.
[00:08:55]  I was doing the Chichi Chi Bang Bang, and she came backstage.
[00:08:58]  And it was Christmas, and I was made Father Christmas.
[00:09:02]  I was naked underneath my costume and so forth.
[00:09:04]  And she came and sat on my knee.
[00:09:06]  And she was, darling, darling, she said to her husband.
[00:09:08]  Camilla sat on your knee.
[00:09:09]  Yes.
[00:09:10]  And she said at the theatre where we were doing it at Drury Lane, not Drury Lane, the other one.
[00:09:15]  Palladium.
[00:09:16]  And she sat on my knee and said, Darling, darling, she picked up the phone to Charles, darling, I'm here, darling.
[00:09:23]  I'm with Father Christmas, which is Brian Blessed.
[00:09:26]  And I do believe he's not got any underwear on.
[00:09:28]  And I'm sat on his knee and he wants to buy me.
[00:09:33]  Can you work out a prize?
[00:09:34]  And he said, hello, Brian.
[00:09:35]  He said, no, Brian.
[00:09:37]  Oh, she's worthless.
[00:09:38]  Nothing.
[00:09:38]  You can have her for nothing.
[00:09:41]  Oh, thank you.
[00:09:42]  He says, I can have you for nothing.
[00:09:43]  Oh, good.
[00:09:44]  I'm yours.
[00:09:46]  And so I've always had this wild relationship.
[00:09:50]  As I said, working with him and doing...
[00:09:52]  And what does she mean?
[00:09:53]  Brian, what does she mean to this country?
[00:09:56]  And what did today mean about Britain?
[00:09:58]  Yeah, when you watch the pomp and the pageantry and this little old lady commanding the attention of the entire world, what does it say about her and the country?
[00:10:09]  Can you give me another two minutes?
[00:10:10]  Yes.
[00:10:11]  I want to emphasise what royalty is.
[00:10:13]  Now, I was in Henry V with Ken Branagh, and Henry V was then, it was then produced in Japan, and there was a big premiere with the entire power of Japan government attending the first night of Henry V, Ken Branner, Henry V with me as the Duke of Exeter.
[00:10:33]  And I was going to open this whole thing with Princess Anne.
[00:10:37]  Now, Princess Anne, I'm a war baby.
[00:10:39]  I'm going into, you know, Tojo.
[00:10:42]  I'm going into, you know, the Japanese powerhouse.
[00:10:48]  We arrive there, we watch the film, and with Princess Anne, and then she and I have to go and meet to the entire length and breadth of all these ambassadors.
[00:10:59]  And there also was His Highness, the Emperor and the Empress there.
[00:11:04]  The power of Japan.
[00:11:05]  I'm a cool minor son.
[00:11:07]  And Anne really, I did flirt with, and she loves it all the time.
[00:11:11]  And she was saying, I said, when are we going to get married?
[00:11:13]  Oh, stop me by.
[00:11:15]  You can marry me anytime you want.
[00:11:16]  Is there any member of the royal family you haven't tried it on with, Brian?
[00:11:19]  I'm very, very expensive.
[00:11:21]  And I don't know who they are.
[00:11:23]  I've got to introduce you.
[00:11:25]  And she said, oh, we'll ask them who they are.
[00:11:28]  This was the power of Japan.
[00:11:31]  I mean, in front of us.
[00:11:33]  And we went along asking who they were.
[00:11:35]  And they were shaking.
[00:11:38]  I'm talking about Japan.
[00:11:39]  They rule the world then.
[00:11:41]  They were shaking at meeting Princess Anne.
[00:11:44]  Isn't that amazing?
[00:11:45]  And so one must be careful.
[00:11:48]  One must acknowledge the power that the royal family have in their beatific power, in their sacred power, and their bravery, the effect they have on the world.
[00:11:59]  Yes, I do.
[00:12:00]  More than any government.
[00:12:01]  Yes.
[00:12:02]  It transcends.
[00:12:04]  But what does the Queen in particular, Brian, say about this country?
[00:12:07]  What are the values and virtues she represents, which I think are the great in Great Britain in many ways?
[00:12:13]  But what does she mean to you in terms of values?
[00:12:16]  Well, I mean...
[00:12:19]  Oh, I don't know.
[00:12:20]  I tend to go to Shakespeare all the time.
[00:12:25]  King John is never done.
[00:12:27]  And there's a character in it called The Bastard, Shakespeare's King John.
[00:12:32]  And in the end, the British forces are retreating.
[00:12:36]  And the Dofar is going to invade Britain.
[00:12:39]  And there's King John.
[00:12:40]  And there's the bastard, who is the son of Coeur de Leon, a great hero.
[00:12:45]  And he says, come, come, come to the Empire.
[00:12:48]  Join me.
[00:12:50]  At last, what am I going to say?
[00:12:57]  The Dofar rages at our heels.
[00:13:01]  But England's princes have come home again.
[00:13:06]  Come the four corners of the world, and we shall shake them.
[00:13:11]  England never shall sit at the proud foot of a conqueror.
[00:13:16]  I feel the Queen is our mother, is sacred, omnipotent, and greatly loved by the Creator.
[00:13:29]  And this she displays.
[00:13:32]  And she also employs a maximum effect with a minimum of effort.
[00:13:36]  And that is grace.
[00:13:37]  It is.
[00:13:38]  She has grace.
[00:13:39]  And we must all pray for her.
[00:13:42]  And so forth.
[00:13:42]  We are so damn lucky to have such a unique, wonderful woman.
[00:13:48]  Yeah.
[00:13:48]  We are.
[00:13:49]  And we need her back.
[00:13:51]  And today we need her more than ever.
[00:13:53]  She's got to go on.
[00:13:54]  We need her.
[00:13:55]  She has.
[00:13:55]  And it's obviously she's having a lot of problems with the health, but you'd expect that at her age.
[00:13:59]  And she's a remarkable woman.
[00:14:01]  We wish her all the very best.
[00:14:02]  I also wish your wife all the very best, Brian.
[00:14:04]  It's lovely to see you.
[00:14:05]  Please send all our best wishes on the show.
[00:14:08]  It's lovely to see you.
[00:14:09]  A great day to be British.
[00:14:11]  It's nice to be here.
[00:14:12]  It's a great day to be British, I think.
[00:14:13]  It's time to be proud of our country.
[00:14:15]  That's right.
[00:14:15]  We're doing damn well.
[00:14:17]  We are.
[00:14:17]  We're bloody marvellous.
[00:14:18]  We are.
[00:14:19]  And I've been present at the national parks for seven years.
[00:14:22]  Our parks are a great success story.
[00:14:24]  Best in the world.
[00:14:25]  I'm sick of the criticism.
[00:14:26]  We're doing marvelously.
[00:14:28]  I agree.
[00:14:29]  It's a time to rejoice and to rejoice in her health.
[00:14:32]  I agree.
[00:14:33]  Brian Blessing, great to see you.
[00:14:34]  Thank you very much.
[00:14:36]  Well, it says the next.
[00:14:38]  How do you follow Brian Blessed?
[00:14:39]  I'll tell you how.
[00:14:40]  Frankie Dottori, the Queen's bullion, brilliant favourite jockey.
[00:14:45]  He'll be here after the break live.
[00:14:47]  There's Frankie.
[00:14:48]  He's in between races.
[00:14:50]  Of course he is.
[00:14:51]  He's always racing.
[00:14:52]  We'll talk to the great Frankie in a few minutes.
[00:15:06]  Welcome back to the Pearson Uncensored.
[00:15:08]  Just to recap on the breaking news, sad breaking news, that the Queen, after this amazing day today in London, where she was on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, she had the five past of the best of our RAF, trooping the colour, obviously, with the amazing pomp and pageantry.
[00:15:23]  It's been revealed tonight that the Queen had some discomfort, the palace says, after today's celebrations.
[00:15:30]  And because of the journey and activity required to go from Windsor Castle to St. Paul's Cathedral, quite a long journey, it has to be said.
[00:15:38]  Because of that, and because of her discomfort, Her Majesty has with great reluctance concluded she will not attend.
[00:15:45]  This is a big deal because it's the National Service of Thanksgiving for her and her 70 years on the throne.
[00:15:51]  The good news is that she will tonight be participating in the Beacon Lighting event at Windsor Castle.
[00:15:58]  So I think the good news that I'm reading from this is it can't be that serious, the condition of the Queen, or she wouldn't be able to do that.
[00:16:04]  But clearly they've decided, I think the travelling is what's causing a lot of the problems for the Queen right now.
[00:16:09]  So we wish Her Majesty, of course, all the very best and hope that she can attend as much as she can of this weekend and these celebrations.
[00:16:17]  But early today was pretty amazing.
[00:16:19]  I was there at the palace for the whole proceedings and it was really spectacular and emotional in many ways.
[00:16:25]  And one of the Queen's greatest passions, of course, is horses and horse racing.
[00:16:30]  She took up riding age three.
[00:16:32]  She was in the saddle until quite recently until her mobility issues took over.
[00:16:36]  And one of her favourite ever jockeys, if not probably her favourite jockey, I think, is Frankie DeTori, champion jockey, champion man.
[00:16:45]  He's ridden more than 50 winners for the Queen in the last 30 years.
[00:16:49]  And I'm delighted to say that in between races, he's actually racing tonight.
[00:16:52]  Frankie DeTorre joins me now live from Chelmsford Race Course.
[00:16:56]  Frankie, good evening to you.
[00:16:59]  Hi, Piers.
[00:17:00]  I want to start, Frankie.
[00:17:03]  I just want to say, I'm waiting for my last one.
[00:17:06]  Oh, did you win the last one?
[00:17:09]  No, I won the first one, but now I'm going to ride the next one in the next 20 minutes.
[00:17:13]  Well, the normal pattern, as you know, Frankie, is that whenever I bet on you to win, you always lose.
[00:17:20]  And when I don't bet on you to win, you always win.
[00:17:24]  Stop betting on me.
[00:17:25]  Stop betting on me, Piers.
[00:17:27]  Frankie, I know that you and the Queen are very close.
[00:17:30]  You've ridden so many rides for her.
[00:17:31]  You've won so many races for her.
[00:17:33]  She loves the horse racing.
[00:17:34]  And obviously, today is a bit of sweet day because we had all these amazing celebrations.
[00:17:38]  And I was hoping to just talk about that with you.
[00:17:40]  But we can't ignore the breaking news, which is that she's had some discomfort tonight and she won't be attending the Thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Cathedral tomorrow.
[00:17:50]  What's your reaction to that?
[00:17:53]  Well, when you look at the Queen's schedule this next three or four days, I mean, it's really so much.
[00:18:01]  We forget that, you know, she's a great old age of 96.
[00:18:05]  And she's also, I think, she's going to miss the derby on Saturday.
[00:18:09]  That is probably the first time in over 50 years.
[00:18:12]  But, you know, we all wished her well and just perhaps to space herself a little bit.
[00:18:19]  It's very easy for us to say.
[00:18:21]  But I think we asked a lot from her.
[00:18:24]  Yeah, and I think there were genuine concerns.
[00:18:26]  She may not have made any of the Jubilee celebrations.
[00:18:29]  I was told by somebody very close to the royals about six weeks ago, they were really worried about it.
[00:18:34]  So the fact she was able to be on the balcony today, I think, was huge.
[00:18:37]  She will obviously miss the derby.
[00:18:39]  You're racing the derby.
[00:18:40]  In fact, I think you were G, to be on one of the Queen's horses, but the horse got pulled.
[00:18:45]  Is that right?
[00:18:47]  Yes, unfortunately, they also said minor setback.
[00:18:50]  It's not going to make it.
[00:18:51]  But, you know, it was great to see Her Majesty on the balcony smiling with all the family.
[00:18:57]  And, you know, we wish her well.
[00:18:59]  And, you know, it's going to be an amazing Platinum Jubilee.
[00:19:03]  And we're going to go ahead and race the Derby.
[00:19:06]  I'm sure she's going to watch it on TV.
[00:19:08]  And we're going to try to give Her Majesty a great spectrum of horse racing, which she loves very much.
[00:19:14]  One of my favourite stories, Frankie, involved you, the Queen, and the late, great Leicester Piggott, who very sadly died several days ago, one of the all-time great jockeys like you are.
[00:19:25]  And it involved the King George VI, where I think you got a little above yourself, didn't you?
[00:19:30]  And you boasted to the Queen that you'd won it four times.
[00:19:34]  And she replied, that's nothing.
[00:19:36]  Leicester won it seven times.
[00:19:40]  Great.
[00:19:41]  When I went up to the podium to pick up the trophy and I said, Your Majesty, I won it four times.
[00:19:47]  And she looked at me, well, Lester won it seven times.
[00:19:51]  Get back in your box.
[00:19:53]  She's got a great sense of humour.
[00:19:54]  And as you know, she loves racing, Royal Aska, the derby, all that.
[00:19:58]  So, you know, she's been a great ambassador for my sport.
[00:20:01]  And just a word about Lester Piggot, because he was an amazing jockey.
[00:20:05]  He was an irascable, uncompromising, courageous, you know, very individual kind of character.
[00:20:13]  But an amazing story where he ended up going to prison for tax evasion issues.
[00:20:18]  And then he made his comeback, aged 55, and he won the Breeders' Cup in America at 55.

=== Royal Pride and Humor (16:22) ===

[00:20:24]  In racing terms, how big a deal was that, Frankie?
[00:20:30]  I was actually, I was in that race.
[00:20:33]  Actually, unfortunately, when I started riding, Leicester already retired.
[00:20:36]  He had five years off racing, and a couple of those years he spent in prison.
[00:20:42]  And then after 12 days, he came back from riding, goes to New York, and wins the Breeder Scout, one of the biggest races in the world.
[00:20:50]  A 54-year-old man.
[00:20:52]  It was an amazing man.
[00:20:54]  Don't forget, we're going to race the derby in memory of him on Saturday.
[00:20:59]  And he's won the Kazoo Epsom Derby nine times.
[00:21:04]  What an amazing man.
[00:21:05]  And that record would never be beaten.
[00:21:07]  Yeah, an amazing, an amazing guy, great character.
[00:21:10]  Let's talk about you and the Queen.
[00:21:11]  Now, Frankie, Lester Pierce, I must stop you because my horses are here and I have to go to ride the next race.
[00:21:20]  So I wish you all the best.
[00:21:22]  I wish you could talk to you a bit longer.
[00:21:23]  Go win it and go win it.
[00:21:25]  Go win it for the Queen, even though it's not a Queen's horse.
[00:21:27]  Go win it for the Queen and dedicate your win to the Queen.
[00:21:30]  Thank you for taking time in between races.
[00:21:32]  Take care.
[00:21:32]  Go get them, Frankie.
[00:21:33]  All the best.
[00:21:37]  Well, that's really the personification, isn't it, of live television?
[00:21:40]  That's actually one of the world's greatest ever jockeys in between two races, fitting us in.
[00:21:45]  But then his horse arrives and he's got to get on it and go in a raid.
[00:21:48]  Right.
[00:21:49]  So thank you to Frankie D'Torre, one of the great characters of racing and close to the Queen.
[00:21:54]  And as he said, I think we echo all his thoughts about sending the Queen great good wishes because she's obviously got these ongoing issues with mobility in particular.
[00:22:03]  And it can't be easy, particularly when you're the focal point of the world's attention in the way that she is.
[00:22:08]  Well, Uncensored next, the Queen will take part in tonight's beacon lighting, despite her issues.
[00:22:13]  After Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Her Majesty will sadly not attend now tomorrow's service of Thanksgiving due to mobility is coming.
[00:22:20]  We'll discuss that with the panel after the break.
[00:22:42]  Welcome back to Pearson Uncensored.
[00:22:44]  Breaking news tonight.
[00:22:45]  The Queen, after such an amazing day at the start of Platinum Jubilee celebrations, has sadly tonight announced that she will not be attending the Thanksgiving service, of course, in her honour for her 70-year reign at St. Paul's Cathedral tomorrow.
[00:22:59]  She will, however, be lighting the first beacon for the beacon, which is going to roll out across across the country.
[00:23:07]  So I'm hoping that means she's not too bad.
[00:23:09]  It just means she can't travel at the moment because Windsor Castle to St Paul's is quite a hike at 96 when you've got mobility issues and clearly suffering some discomfort, as the panel said in their statement.
[00:23:20]  Well, I'm joined now in the studio by Van Cantes Hitchingbrook, Julie Montagu, author of The New Royals and royal commentators, Kaylee Nickel from Manage Fair and Kinsey Scover.
[00:23:29]  Welcome to you, Kinsey.
[00:23:30]  You were so excited to see me earlier.
[00:23:32]  I thought I would double your excitement and bring you from the Fox studio to here.
[00:23:36]  So welcome.
[00:23:36]  Thank you so much.
[00:23:37]  I am a huge fan.
[00:23:38]  Well, I'm a big fan of yours too now.
[00:23:40]  So that's two of us.
[00:23:42]  To start with you, Katie, if I may, this is not good news.
[00:23:45]  Whichever way we try and dress this up, for the Queen to miss the big Thanksgiving service, she's a big churchgoer, a big believer.
[00:23:54]  She's the head of the church.
[00:23:55]  Yeah.
[00:23:55]  So it's a big...
[00:23:56]  But for her not to be there is a big deal.
[00:23:58]  What do we read into this?
[00:23:59]  Okay, so I'm going to preface it by saying it is a shock.
[00:24:02]  I know people tuning in this evening and thinking, oh, gosh, you know, this is not good.
[00:24:05]  It's not great.
[00:24:07]  But when I came on your show a few weeks ago, I said to you, I was told by a source close to the royals that nothing was certain.
[00:24:13]  Yes.
[00:24:13]  Because as you pointed out, she really wasn't very well.
[00:24:16]  So the fact that we've had two balcony appearances today, the lighting of the beacons this evening, I think suggests there's no need for alarm bells to be ringing.
[00:24:24]  However, it's going to look very strange.
[00:24:27]  And as soon as I heard that news, I thought, do you remember in 2012?
[00:24:30]  And the Duke of Edinburgh wasn't at that service of Thanksgiving and how strange it felt.
[00:24:35]  And I just think when you take away the Queen from a service of Thanksgiving to thank for her life, it's going to look very strange.
[00:24:44]  Well, also, it's a little bit sort of cursed this event now, Julie, because we've already had the Archbishop of Canterbury pull out because he got COVID.
[00:24:51]  He was supposed to be officiating.
[00:24:53]  Prince Andrew, whose appearance in itself was going to be very controversial, I think, because last time he appeared with the Queen was at Prince Philip's funeral and people didn't really like it, the fact that she was appearing to sort of accept him back into public life.
[00:25:06]  So he was due to be there, but he's also tested positive for COVID.
[00:25:10]  So there's a lot going on.
[00:25:12]  It's going to look very empty, I think, tomorrow at the service because now the Queen won't be there.
[00:25:17]  Prince Andrew won't be there as well.
[00:25:19]  And I do think that there might be that moment of awkwardness because then you have Harry and Megan coming and we know that they obviously still have a great relationship, as they say, with the Queen, but the Queen will be missing.
[00:25:33]  So I think there's going to be this moment of, you know, exactly.
[00:25:39]  Who are they going to be sitting next to?
[00:25:40]  No question.
[00:25:41]  I was told by a very good source, it was pretty tense today, that behind the scenes, apparently there was some disquiet from palace officials that Megan and Harry turned up apparently 15 minutes late, not for the actual start of the parade, but 15 minutes later than they were supposed to.
[00:25:55]  And apparently it was all quite frosty behind the scenes and the rest of the family went out in the garden and were milling around and they just disappeared.
[00:26:02]  So there's already a lot of tension there and the only glue it seems in this whole tension is the Queen.
[00:26:07]  Absolutely.
[00:26:07]  And she's now not going to be there.
[00:26:09]  So we're going to have a bit of a drama tomorrow morning potentially in a church where there aren't many of them and the ones who are going to be there don't get on.
[00:26:17]  I agree and I think that it's really important to the Queen that the family is united.
[00:26:21]  I think it's important to her because she's concerned about Prince Charles and she wants everybody to accept him and she wants there to be healing and peace.
[00:26:29]  So I'm concerned about tomorrow's.
[00:26:31]  Yeah, I mean look let's just hope it all goes peacefully and well but it's not looking particularly good is it given all that's been going on.
[00:26:37]  I just want to go through some of my highlights.
[00:26:40]  I was right there at the palace today covering it for Fox in America and it was very moving the whole day.
[00:26:46]  It was very inspiring.
[00:26:48]  It felt me very proud to be British actually I have to say it showed the country at its best.
[00:26:52]  It was a beautiful sunny day and the mall was absolutely teeming.
[00:26:57]  The atmosphere was fantastically positive.
[00:26:59]  So after all the mayhem of the pandemic and given that the country is ravaged by inflation at the moment, many people are really feeling the pinch.
[00:27:07]  It was a great celebration of what it is good to be British and I love that.
[00:27:12]  But there were some heroes and villains today.
[00:27:14]  Inevitably the villains were led by radical vegans who decided to try and ruin the party by throwing themselves over railings and lying pretending to be dead on the floor in front of some of the military as they went by.
[00:27:28]  They were immediately flatlined by, I think, meat-eating police officers.
[00:27:33]  I don't know what it is with vegans other than they're permanently angry and dare I suggest they're hangry because they're never having a good meal.
[00:27:41]  And this is what happens when you don't eat a balanced diet.
[00:27:44]  You literally go nuts.
[00:27:45]  So they tried to ruin it.
[00:27:46]  They got removed.
[00:27:48]  In my heroes category, you can't get past little Louis, who's Kate and Williams' youngest, who basically spent his entire time on the balcony pulling faces.
[00:27:58]  We did a montage of his greatest ticks.
[00:28:00]  It's from the Daily Mail, I think.
[00:28:02]  Absolutely spectacular, although I did caption it.
[00:28:05]  Is this the moment Auntie Megan arrived?
[00:28:08]  It's probably the reaction of most of the royals.
[00:28:10]  So that was most certainly in the thing.
[00:28:12]  And talking of Auntie Megan, she was caught, of course she was caught because she was going to make sure she was, through the balcony for the troop in the colours.
[00:28:21]  This is behind the back of the palace, that balcony, sort of very much appropriately the reserve balcony, which is where she found herself, along with being in an outhouse rather than the primary balcony.
[00:28:32]  And this is her having the audacity to tell the young royals to shush because they've been yapping too much.
[00:28:38]  This from the greatest yapper in the history of modern monarchy.
[00:28:42]  So a little ironic, if you don't mind me saying.
[00:28:45]  Were you silenced or were you silenced or were you silenced?
[00:28:48]  Was I silent or was I silenced?
[00:28:50]  Exactly.
[00:28:50]  Yeah, it made me chuckle anyway, whichever way you look at it.
[00:28:54]  I'm joined also by royal biographer Tom Bauer, who is in central London.
[00:28:58]  Tom, you've just written a book about the Duchess of Sussex.
[00:29:02]  Don't want to dwell on her too much.
[00:29:04]  I do want to ask you about the Queen because it was a very, you know, it was a wonderful day, but it already felt to me quite bittersweet as it was because I just felt, look at this woman, she's 96.
[00:29:15]  We're not going to have another jubilee for her unless she lives to be 106, which is unlikely.
[00:29:20]  So this is really the last chance to say a proper thank you and celebrate her reign and her life.
[00:29:27]  And it was all magnificent, but then tonight we get this sting in the tail that she can't attend the St. Paul's service, which I know will be a huge blow to her because she is the head of the church.
[00:29:39]  Well, you're right.
[00:29:40]  It is very disappointing.
[00:29:42]  But on the other hand, on the plus side, Piers, it does mean that Netflix won't get the panning shot of Megan to the Queen.
[00:29:50]  And that'll really annoy Netflix enormously.
[00:29:54]  So there's always a bit of a rainbow.
[00:29:55]  I mean, on that, Tom, I have to ask you, I mean, you know, my big objection to Harry and Megan is primarily the rampant hypocrisy that accompanies almost everything that comes out of their mouths.
[00:30:08]  And we saw this acutely when they keep preaching about the environment and about the need to save our carbon footprint.
[00:30:15]  And then we discover they got here from California on a private jet.
[00:30:20]  I mean, when they do things like that, I'm like, who buys this nonsense?
[00:30:25]  Who lets them behave like this and thinks this is actually good?
[00:30:29]  Well, you get excited about that.
[00:30:31]  I get excited about Megan appearing in this extraordinary hat with a big smile and letting down the window of her car so she can be seen.
[00:30:38]  I mean, here is a woman who, as you know better than anyone else, according to you, lied 17 times on the opera show interview and hasn't yet apologised.
[00:30:49]  And why has she come here?
[00:30:50]  Has she come here to apologise to the Queen?
[00:30:52]  Has she come here to say that she's sorry to the Duchess of Cambridge?
[00:30:56]  Or is she here to promote herself?
[00:30:59]  And I thought her big smiles as she edged towards the window to make sure that the cameras should see her with her oversized hat was all part of the promote Megan show.
[00:31:10]  That's really quite extraordinary, I thought.
[00:31:12]  Well, it is extraordinary for what it's worth.
[00:31:14]  Yeah, and it is, it chips away, I think, at the magic of the monarchy because they've already got this huge problem with Prince Andrew.
[00:31:22]  And there's no doubt that scandal's been very, very damaging to the brand of the monarchy.
[00:31:26]  The fact that the Queen's second son has had to write this huge check for millions of dollars to basically pay off a woman who was taking him to court over a serious sexual assault charge.
[00:31:37]  That is unprecedented in modern times for the monarchy and a very damaging thing.
[00:31:41]  But I also think what you're seeing, this turmoil we're now seeing in the Commonwealth in many countries, I think you can directly chart a lot of it back to the Oprah Winfrey interview where Megan Markle made these serious allegations of racism against the royals but didn't actually say who she was talking about, thereby almost bringing them all into the frame.
[00:32:03]  And I think you're seeing the kickback from that.
[00:32:06]  Absolutely.
[00:32:07]  Now, in my book, Forthcoming Pook, which is out next month, I explained very in detail how the Cambridge's visit to Jamaica was predestined to be difficult, if not disastrous, because of the effect of Meghan and the racist allegations she made.
[00:32:24]  There's no doubt that across the Caribbean and across other parts of the world, Megan's allegations of racism resounded and had a terrible effect on the image of the Queen and the image of Britain and the royal family.
[00:32:37]  And to see her then smiling through the window of a car and she'd let down the window and standing close to make sure that she should be seen in the horse cars parade today without any contrition whatsoever just shows what a brazen hussy she is.
[00:32:53]  Yeah.
[00:32:54]  Well, your words not mine, but I'm not denying them.
[00:32:58]  Let's just come to Katie for a moment about the main event today was the Queen, and it was spectacular there.
[00:33:05]  I mean, I really did feel moved by it.
[00:33:07]  What did you feel?
[00:33:08]  You've covered the Royals for a long time.
[00:33:09]  What did you feel?
[00:33:11]  It felt very special.
[00:33:12]  I was commentating for the BBC, so I was in a little commentary box with Jamie Louther Pinkerton and Hugh Edwards, and it was an incredible experience.
[00:33:22]  I mean, nothing beats that balcony moment.
[00:33:25]  I think there is a sense, you know, a jubilee is as much about looking forward to the future as it is in being in the present and celebrating the present and also reflecting on the past.
[00:33:33]  And I think there is a sense of what to come.
[00:33:36]  This feels like a final hurrah for the Queen.
[00:33:39]  And I think for all of us, even regimental men of Jamie Louther Pinkerton status, there was a lump in the throat.
[00:33:45]  And that is because she instills this pride that you're talking about.
[00:33:49]  I don't think you have to be a royalist, but to appreciate what someone has done over the course of 70 years.
[00:33:57]  I agree.
[00:33:57]  She is a remarkable person.
[00:33:58]  Well, Johnny Rotten, actually, from the Sex Pills, who famously sang God Save the Queen as an anarchy song to get rid of the monarchy.
[00:34:04]  Even he said this week on my show that he has great respect for the Queen personally, which says it all, I think.
[00:34:09]  Julie, we've got some clips here.
[00:34:10]  These are world leaders paying tribute to the Queen.
[00:34:12]  President Biden, President Obama, and President Macron.
[00:34:16]  Let's listen to these because they're quite telling, I think.
[00:34:19]  Your Majesty, congratulations on your platinum jubilee.
[00:34:22]  For 70 years, you've inspired people with your selfless devotion and service to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
[00:34:28]  On behalf of the people of the United States, we send you our best wishes to you and the people around the world marking this momentous and historic occasion.
[00:34:37]  You are the golden thread that binds our two countries.
[00:34:41]  The proof of the unwavering friendship between our nations.
[00:34:44]  We are grateful for your courage and we share the respect and love that the British people and Commonwealth have always shown you.
[00:34:53]  I'd like to thank Her Majesty and I have formed a special relationship of our own.
[00:34:58]  Certainly I can say that getting to know her was one of the great privileges of my years in office.
[00:35:04]  And I learned so much from seeing the example she set for all of us who had the privilege to serve.
[00:35:11]  I mean Julie, this reminds me of all the British Prime Ministers who said exactly the same kind of stuff.
[00:35:15]  They're all slightly in awe of the Queen.
[00:35:17]  Even Donald Trump, the least humble man in the history of the planet, even he admitted to being slightly humble when he met her because his mum had been such a great fan of the Queen.
[00:35:25]  You know, put her into some kind of historical context.
[00:35:28]  Yeah, I mean, I think you can look at sort of the Dalai Lama.
[00:35:32]  It's somebody who unites and doesn't divide.
[00:35:36]  And especially with the turbulence that we've all experienced over the past couple of years with, of course, Brexit and then pandemic, Trump, you know, who is very divisive.
[00:35:48]  She's always remained this person who wants to unite.
[00:35:52]  And so for me, she does have this ability to do that.
[00:35:55]  And it does remind me of somebody like the Dalai Lama who is about compassion and kindness.
[00:36:02]  And I think that's what she will be remembered.
[00:36:04]  Yes, I agree.
[00:36:04]  I totally agree.
[00:36:05]  And I felt that with the crown today, it didn't matter what your politics were because the Queen isn't political.
[00:36:09]  So by turning up, you're not making a political point because she doesn't, she's not interested in that.
[00:36:14]  She wants to bring the people of Britain together, whatever your political persuasions.
[00:36:18]  Kinsey, what does she mean to Americans, the Queen?
[00:36:21]  And what do they feel about the next rung on the ladder, Charles and Camilla?
[00:36:26]  I mean, we absolutely adore the Queen.
[00:36:28]  She is selfless.
[00:36:30]  And I think that we really admire her dedication to service because we don't see that a lot in America.
[00:36:34]  We're very shallow and selfish.
[00:36:36]  Sorry for Megan Markle, because I feel like there might be some association there.
[00:36:40]  But I think there is concern over Prince Charles and Camilla because Americans take the crown as complete, 100% facts.

=== A Monarch Beyond Politics (02:07) ===

[00:36:47]  Which, by the way, is not a good idea.
[00:36:49]  Yes.
[00:36:50]  These are real people.
[00:36:51]  They're not fictitious characters in a drama for Netflix.
[00:36:54]  In fact, what Netflix should do is do a real one on the Sussex.
[00:36:57]  Oh, but it just wrong original.
[00:36:59]  Yeah, exactly.
[00:37:00]  And I do think that we still love Princess Diana, truly.
[00:37:03]  We still love her, and we still remember her.
[00:37:06]  Yeah.
[00:37:06]  Well, it's great to see you all.
[00:37:07]  Thank you very much.
[00:37:08]  Final word to Tom Bauer, if he's still there.
[00:37:10]  Indeed, I am.
[00:37:11]  Tom, just put the Queen into history for me, because I believe she's the greatest monarch we've ever had, followed by Elizabeth I and then Queen Victoria.
[00:37:21]  What say you?
[00:37:23]  Well, I'm not a great expert on every monarch we've ever had, Piers, but in our lifetime, clearly.
[00:37:29]  But you know, before Queen Victoria, there were people like Henry VIII who did quite a good job of executing his wives, Tom.
[00:37:38]  Yes, but you cleared that with your wife.
[00:37:43]  Well, Henry VIII, his father, his father created the Navy.
[00:37:48]  Charles II restored the monarchy.
[00:37:51]  There have been a lot of kings.
[00:37:53]  Monarchs are just fit for their age.
[00:37:55]  We've been very, very lucky.
[00:37:57]  And of course, we look forward now to Charles and until recently with some trepidation.
[00:38:04]  And I think what has been very, very fortunate is that the transition from the Queen to Charles has been taking place over, what, one or two or three years now.
[00:38:14]  So the sudden shock will not be the same when he finally becomes king.
[00:38:19]  I think he's also changed.
[00:38:21]  He's mellowed.
[00:38:22]  He's not being as ostentatious and self-indulgent as he was.
[00:38:26]  He's not speaking out as he did before.
[00:38:29]  And he's got a gravitas.
[00:38:31]  And I think the Queen, very rightly, from her point of view, said that Camilla should be the next queen.
[00:38:37]  Yeah, I agree.
[00:38:38]  And that means that the transition will be smooth.
[00:38:42]  Yes, I agree.
[00:38:42]  And having met them, I think Camilla gets a bad rap.
[00:38:46]  She's a terrific lady.
[00:38:46]  I think she's actually, they're great together, and I think they'll be very good for the country.
[00:38:50]  So, Tom, thank you very much.
[00:38:52]  Thank you to my stellar panel.
[00:38:53]  Really appreciate it.

=== Celebrating a Historic Jubilee (06:12) ===

[00:38:54]  Well, yesterday I spoke to the man who gave the world American Pie, the singer-songwriter Don MacLean.
[00:39:00]  It was supposed to have aired last night.
[00:39:02]  He got bounced out because all the breaking news from the Jubilee, Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, and so on.
[00:39:06]  We're going to run it in full on Monday.
[00:39:08]  But he did talk briefly about what the Queen means to him.
[00:39:12]  Take a look at this.
[00:39:14]  She is a very lovable person.
[00:39:18]  That's all I can say.
[00:39:19]  She's not a Queen Victoria who seemed to be a little off with your heads type of a queen.
[00:39:26]  This woman is a beautiful person and she raised her children well and she cares and she's duty bound to do the things that she's supposed to do and we all love her and so I'm delighted that this is happening and I think she deserves it.
[00:39:47]  Well, it's a great interview actually with Don McLean.
[00:39:50]  I was very surprised by it.
[00:39:52]  It was very moving in part, very funny, shocking as well.
[00:39:55]  This is a little taste of what's to come.
[00:39:57]  We're going to air it in full on Monday.
[00:40:00]  Long, long time ago.
[00:40:02]  It had to be a massive song for this massive country.
[00:40:07]  I wish that I could have known my father better.
[00:40:12]  America is getting more crazy and less sane.
[00:40:16]  Tyson Fury loves to sing American pipe.
[00:40:20]  Absolutely smash it, brother.
[00:40:22]  Maybe they'd be happy for a while.
[00:40:25]  Starry, starry night.
[00:40:28]  Paint your palette blue and grey.
[00:40:32]  Look out on a summer's day.
[00:40:41]  One of the greatest records ever made, and it's a brilliant interview.
[00:40:45]  So look out for that on Monday.
[00:40:46]  Well, uncensored next, Captain Jonathan Brooks was front of the centre of today's Troop in the Colour.
[00:40:51]  I'll be speaking to him about his once-in-a-lifetime experience.
[00:40:53]  That's after the break.
[00:41:06]  Well, today's Tribute of Colour was British pomp and pageantry at its very best.
[00:41:10]  1,400 parading soldiers, 400 musicians, 200 horses, and thousands of royal supervans lining the mall.
[00:41:17]  I'm joined now by Captain Jonathan Brooks of the King's Troop War Horse Artillery, who was present on Horse Guard's parade today and then fired the 41 gun salute from Hyde Park.
[00:41:25]  Captain, thank you so much for joining me after your extraordinary day.
[00:41:28]  It's the first proper Troop in the Colour you've done in front of all the crowds.
[00:41:32]  First question, what was it like?
[00:41:35]  I mean, it was amazing.
[00:41:37]  Yeah, I managed to do the Troop of the Colour last year at Windsor Castle, but this year was spectacular.
[00:41:42]  It really felt like a moment in history with the crowds absolutely packing the mall.
[00:41:47]  The Royal Foundry there in full force.
[00:41:49]  It was simply spectacular.
[00:41:50]  And of course, Tribune the Colour has, you know, for several hundred years now, has celebrated the Queen's birthday or the monarch's birthday of the time.
[00:41:58]  What does it mean to you as a serving member of the armed forces to be honouring the Queen, the head of the armed forces in this way?
[00:42:07]  I mean, it's a tremendous privilege.
[00:42:09]  She is a huge inspiration to all of us.
[00:42:12]  She puts duty ahead of everything else and she really, for us, essentially feels at the heart of the nation.
[00:42:17]  So to be able to be there and be a big part of marking this historic occasion and hopefully making her proud is unbeatable, really.
[00:42:25]  The crowds were huge.
[00:42:27]  They were really exuberant today.
[00:42:29]  There's a lot of patriotism and flag waving and joy in the air.
[00:42:33]  After all we've been through as a country in recent years, it was a really lovely day to just say we're British, we're great, we're proud of our country and we're proud of our Queen.
[00:42:45]  Yeah, we do pomp and ceremony, you know, out the best in the world.
[00:42:50]  We are top of the game when it comes to pomp and ceremony and the public were really behind us.
[00:42:56]  They were quite funny going down the mall.
[00:42:57]  Every time our trumpeters blew a trumpet call, they absolutely loved it and that put a big smile on our faces.
[00:43:03]  Although we had to try not to smile, but you know, they were superb and it was great to see everyone there.
[00:43:08]  And to your credit, none of you fainted in the heat, I hear.
[00:43:13]  No, we managed to survive the heat.
[00:43:15]  It was a hot day.
[00:43:17]  We were praying for some merciless cloud cover, but it does look spectacular.
[00:43:21]  Horse guards parade in the sun.
[00:43:22]  So I'm glad that the sun came out for us.
[00:43:24]  Yeah, it was fantastic, and you guys did a great job, and the RAF were fantastic as well.
[00:43:28]  It was a brilliant, I was there right at Buckingham Palace, and it was really just the pomp, the pageantry, the military, all of it coming together with the royal family.
[00:43:36]  What a wonderful day it was.
[00:43:37]  And I thank you and all your colleagues, well, for what you did today, but also for your service to your country.
[00:43:42]  Thank you very much, Captain Brooks.
[00:43:45]  Cheers, thanks very much, Piers.
[00:43:48]  Well, what a day.
[00:43:49]  My entire life, I've only ever had one queen.
[00:43:52]  Elizabeth II has been the head of this country for every second I've been alive and a lot more seconds.
[00:43:57]  In fact, there aren't many people on the planet who haven't lived the majority of their lives with her as the monarch in this country.
[00:44:04]  She means something, of course, to everyone.
[00:44:07]  And to see her today, after all the concerns about her health and her mobility, her brush with COVID, to see her marching out with the big gring, the Tom Cruise Maverick sunglasses on, to greet her adoring public.
[00:44:20]  Well, it was a sight I'll never forget.
[00:44:22]  This is Britain's first ever Platinum Jubilee.
[00:44:25]  It might be the last we ever see.
[00:44:27]  It will certainly, sadly, be this Queen's last Jubilee.
[00:44:31]  And I'm just grateful that we had this opportunity to show her that we love her, that we respect her, what she means to us, and how important she's been to Great Britain.
[00:44:40]  She's our greatest export.
[00:44:42]  She's also one of the greatest Britons.
[00:44:44]  And it's hard to think of any living person who is viewed with more global admiration and affection than she is.
[00:44:49]  This little old lady has quite simply been a giant on the world stage.
[00:44:53]  And after 70 years of reign, we are just truly grateful and we remain her humble and obedient servants.
[00:45:01]  Well, mostly obedient.
[00:45:02]  God save the Queen.
[00:45:06]  God save the