Sky News’ Dermot Murnaghan says they won’t prepare any scripts for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
Sky News’ Dermot Murnaghan says they won’t prepare any scripts for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
The 64-year-old broadcaster will treat the event as “a breaking news story” as millions of people tune into the mark the life of the late 96-year-old monarch on Monday (19.09.2022) at a service at Westminster Abbey attended by hundreds of people, including UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the First Lady of Ukraine Oleana Zelenska.
He told Metro.co.uk: “On the day, it’s a breaking news story. There are no scripts. If you can’t think of something to say, you really shouldn’t be in the job.
“What tells the story of something of this enormity is not some broadcaster like me rabbiting on, it’s pictures and the sounds on your screen. The story is the story. The story is not me, and it’s not what I’d say.”
Dermot recalled the “hairs standing on the back your neck moment” when the Queen’s body was taken from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where she lay in state and was seen by thousands of people, many of whom had queued for hours.
He added: “I was there on Wednesday when they had the procession, taking the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. That was a hairs standing on the back of your neck moment – and that was somber and relatively simple compared to what we’re going to see and what the world is going to see on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
“[They will see] Britain at its best; and I don’t just mean the marching, the music, and just how well [the ceremony] is organised. It’s the people as well, as they are going to turn out absolutely in their millions.”
The former ‘Eggheads’ host believes the day is “going to be the likes of which we’ve never seen before.”
Dermot admitted that he had been “heartened” by the UK’s response to the passing of Her Majesty after more than 70 years on the throne.
He said: “Hundreds of thousands of people have been queuing to see the Queen lying in state and some of them pretty much know they won’t get in. But that’s not the point – the point is that they’re there. And I get that, I think it’s really, really good.
“‘I’m really heartened by the way the British people are reacting. It’s not a tearing of clothes and a wailing [type grief]. It’s not like the death of Princess Diana; it wasn’t a shock. It’s quiet. It’s respectful. It’s reflective and, slightly in those queues, celebratory. It’s an event. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
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