Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - BONUS: Royal Correspondent Gavin Grey on The Queen's Funeral

Episode Date: September 18, 2022

Gavin Gray is our Royal Correspondent in the U.K, and he describes the final hours before the Queen's Funeral, from David Beckham standing in queue for hours, to Harry stripped of 'ER' on his uniform, and the dramatic procession plans for her Majesty. A fascinating insight into what's happening, enjoy this bonus podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to a bonus podcast from Jono and Ben on The Hits. The whole world watching what's going on in the UK. Obviously the Queen's funeral tonight, everyone paying their respects. Thousands and thousands of people there. 10 o'clock New Zealand time that's going to be. Over the weekend, some wonderful vision of David Beckham waiting in line up to 26 hours to see Her Majesty's coffin. Surely Golden Balls could have got a queue jumper pass.

Yes, and I'm told he was offered a queue jumping pass and uh denied it now um the cynical people amongst us are suggesting he is pretty desperate for a knighthood uh and may well have wanted a good photo opportunity i think that's rather cynical maybe he just wanted to go and pay his respects to Her Majesty. Why he would want a queue that long and not get the quick pass, I'm not quite sure. However, there he is in the queue

and good on him. I mean, the queue is still ongoing. Now, the final people able to see Her Majesty lying in state have until 6.30 tomorrow morning our time. That's 5.30 this evening your time. And if they don't make it through the door by then, it'll be shut.

Can you imagine queuing eight, nine, ten hours and just being missing out? It will be awful. So they're saying they're going to restrict the queue so that that doesn't happen. He should get a knighthood. He would have been punished for 12 hours. Selfie after selfie. Newspaper reporter after. Give him a knighthood for waiting 12 hours.

And Prince Prince, well, no longer Prince Harry now, but Harry, we've seen a lot of news stories about him being included in some of the royal proceedings. Other times he's been told he's not allowed to wear this and that. What is going to happen with Harry today? Yeah, I think it's going to be a time, I think, for everyone to come together. So I don't think we're going to see any major falling out. But apparently he was delighted that he was able to wear his uniform. And then he noticed that the initials ER, which, of course, stand for the Elizabeth II Regina, meaning that he served under Queen Elizabeth.

That was removed from his military outfit. And he was absolutely, apparently really hurt and upset about this at school, they had medals that they were allowed to wear. And this whole thing, of course, with Prince Andrew, should he be allowed to wear a uniform, should he not? I think it's made some very, very difficult decisions, quite apparent. And I don't think we'll hear the last of this from Harry and in particular from Meghan. Has this been, and this seems like a very strange question, but has this been everything you had imagined? Has it played out beautifully? Yes, yes, I think it has. I think they'll be extremely happy with how it's gone. I think the procession where they are firing a gun salute every minute is going to be truly dramatic.

It's only a short distance going from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey. But then, of course, as the whole family are behind the hearse, it is going to be an amazing spectacle. But I think so far, just it's almost hypnotic to see the live stream of people going into Westminster Hall to see Her Majesty lying in state. It is remarkable. And suddenly you realise just how Her Majesty affected so many people. And finally, Gavin Gray, because I know you're very busy today, a very big day over there,

whereabouts will you be watching the funeral from? Well, the question is, I think for me, is am I going to be able to get near to get footage for the media that I'm working for? Or am I going to have to sort of sit it out at a distance and get what I can from overall views? Am I going to have to fight with several other hundreds, thousands of people lining the route in order to get a view? You'll be standing with golden balls on the outside with the people. Gavin Gray's a man of the people.

Hey, Gavin, listen, really do appreciate all of your time over the last week and a half. You've done a magnificent job, and good luck today. It's going to be a massive day. Cheers. Thanks, guys. You've been listening to a podcast from The Hits. For more audio, search up Megan Puppis on the 3pm pickup or Brad and Laura on The Hits.

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