Piers Morgan Uncensored - Piers Morgan Uncensored: Queen Elizabeth II arrives in London & the Latest in Ukraine

Episode Date: September 13, 2022

On this episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Piers gives us the latest reports on Queen Elizabeth II's coffin as it arrives in London at Buckingham Palace with TalkTV's Royal Editor Sarah Hewson. Piers questions whether it's fair that Prince Harry is banned from wearing military uniform at the Queen's vigil but an exception is made for Andrew. Adam Boulton reacts to footage of King Charles III getting frustrated as he signed a visitor's book in Northern Ireland. Plus, Piers gives a reminder of how Ukrainians have been continuing to defy the odds as the world grieves our late monarch and asks: 'Will Putin fall?'. Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8pm on TalkTV on Sky 526, Virgin Media 627, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on DAB+ and app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight on Pierce Morgan, unscensored, Her Majesty's final journey. The Lake Queen's coffin makes it way to Buckingham Palace. Millions are expected to see her lion state. Harry is banned from wearing military uniform at the vigil. Disgraced Prince Andrew can wear his full regalia. How can that be right? Plus Ukraine punches back Putin's war is in disarray, but how deadly will his counter-strike possibly be?

Live from London, this is Piersmore. Well, good evening. I'm Pierce Morgan. It's going to be a very emotional night tonight as I speak. The hearse carrying the late Queen Elizabeth II is moving slowly from North Holt in West London to Buckingham Palace. Of course, her world famous residence be the last time that the Queen's body will ever be at the palace. She'll be there overnight and then she'll be moved to Lyon State. Members of the Royal Family are going to be at the palace to greet her and she'll be a right. arriving sometime in the next few minutes, and we'll, of course, bring you that news when we get it. But it's been a really moving day from the very morning that it all started up in Scotland,

of course, where she'd been lying in state as St. Giles's Cathedral in Edinburgh. She was then taken by the RAF, by plane, down to North Halt, and tonight her coffin will lie in rest in the Bowroom, where she greeted countless visiting heads of state. And tomorrow she'll lie in state at Westminster Hall, where millions potentially are expected to come and try to see her, many of them queuing overnight. Well, I'm joined now by talk to the political editor at Cape and Kat and talk to the Royal editor, Sarah Hewson. Let's start with you, Sarah.

You're down there at Buckingham Palace, waiting for what is going to be a truly historic and emotional moment, isn't it? This is the great queen, arguably the greatest of all queens, going back to Buckingham Palace, the sort of epicentre of the royal family to the world for the last time. Yes, and Pearce, what's really striking as I stand here is how quiet it is. There is a huge crowd that has gathered to witness the Queen's final journey in through those famous gates of Buckingham Palace. And yet they are standing there in silence.

Umbrellas up waiting quietly. They've been waiting for some time now, many of them queued for hours, to get a position to see this moment in history. The atmosphere is incredibly somber. I've been here throughout the week at Pearce and the atmosphere has changed from day to day, but today you just feel that mood has come down that people are here in quiet reflection, waiting for this moment to say goodbye to the Queen. And she will shortly be driven through those gates of Buckingham Palace into her official London residence,

that home that is so associated with the monarchy. and the Crown and the Queen. And there she will rest in the bowroom at Buckingham Palace until tomorrow, when at 222 she will make her way on a gun carriage slowly through the streets of London to Westminster Hall, to Lion State, and allow more people to pay their respects. So, Sarah, I mean, I was coming into work here in Ealingham, West London, and I couldn't work out why the traffic was so bad.

And then I looked at it was pouring the rain. I looked at it, I just saw the streets were lined with people and police, and I suddenly realized this was the route from North Hole into the centre of London, into Buckingham Palace. And there were so many people and so many police. And everyone was very quiet, everyone was very respectful, but it was chucking it down with rain. And it was a very poignant scene, actually,

that so many people, so many of the Queen's subjects were just waiting quietly. We're seeing now live footage here, actually. of the hearse arriving at Buckingham Palace. This is Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. This is her final journey back to Buckingham Palace tonight. Thousands of people there outside the palace waiting for this. And there is the hearse. And she'll be greeted, we understand, by all of the senior royals, pretty much.

Her children and her grandchildren and their wives, and I think some nieces and nephews. as well. And they'll be greeting this remarkable woman at the palace for the last time. And she'll spend the night there and then tomorrow the public will get their chance to pay their respects

as the people in Scotland, of course, have been doing the last two days. But it's pretty poignant in this, isn't it? This is a remarkable moment involving this extraordinary woman. It's very hard not to be very moved by this. Well, now the crowd of bursting in. to spontaneous applause as that hearse passed by.

It sent a shiver down my spine. It really is quite a moment. The atmosphere here, it's hard to describe as that hearse drove through in the darkness, in the rain, and the Queen making her final journey. And of course, there have been so many moments over the course of the past. A couple of days from Balmoral to Edinburgh,

today from Edinburgh, to London, Now this journey from R.A.F. North Alt to Buckingham Palace. Okay, Sarah, we'll listen. We'll keep a watch on that. We'll see what happens over the next few minutes. See if we can see that Hearst being met by members of the family. I want to go down to Kate McCown. She's in Westminster. Kate, obviously, the Queen will spend this last night at her great palace.

And then tomorrow she'll move to Westminster Abbey, where she will lie in state for four days. And some people have been queuing all day already, just to get the chance to walk past and have there a few seconds, a few feet away from Her Majesty. What has it been like down there? Yeah, the mood in Westminster is a really interesting one. In some parts of Westminster,

there is really frenzied activity preparing for what will be a huge influx of people who want to come and pay their last respects. And then at the queuing sites, where people are already starting to set up those tents, Some of them have gazebos. Everybody kind of coming together in not quite a celebratory mood, but a somber one whilst at the same time knowing that what they are witnessing is a real moment in history. And they are really incredible royal fans, the people who are already there.

They are in the rain. It is pretty miserable. It's on the side of the river. There's not a lot down there. But there will be peers because there is a huge plan to make sure that all those many thousands of people, maybe as many as a million who decide to queue over the next couple of days, will be well catered for, there will be loose down there, there'll be access to food and drink,

you'll get a wristband if you want to leave that queue. And the intention is to try and get as many people through as possible. The atmosphere, though, inside Westminster Hall, that incredibly historic part of the palace will be still and crucially silent. You won't be allowed to take photos or videos, and the palace is asking people to dress in somber clothing to reflect really the sense of occasion that it will be inside that palace

when people go and pay their last respects to the late queen. Right, and Kate, meanwhile, our new king has continued his travels around the United Kingdom and today Northern Ireland. That was a very significant trip, wasn't it? It was, and it's interesting that we are describing the mood at these occasions, because we know what the ceremony looks like, and we kind of know what some of the formalities are, but it's always the mood that's fascinating. And in Northern Ireland today, that was one of the things that everybody was holding their breath to watch, because there has been such huge tension over time in that part of the world.

And remember, the Queen played such a significant role in really trying to ease some of that pressure and tension in 2011 and 2012, shaking hands of Martin McGuinness, for example, those were seen as crucial moments that she was really the only person who could make those steps and move things forward. And that was really appreciated, that soft power, if you like. She didn't overstep, she made exactly the right move at exactly the right time. And I think there had been some tension trying to,

to understand whether King Charles will be able to do the same thing. And so that warning today from the stormant speaker, Sinn Féin's Alex Maski, essentially one which towed the line between saying, we welcome you here, we are very happy to see you, we support you and we share in your grief, but also just remember the tensions here and really how difficult it is to try and unite all parts. In what will be a difficult period, there is no Stormont Assembly at the moment. There is a key issue around Brexit and the Northern Irish Protocol, which is yet to be resolved. And King Charles, he's been there 40 times before,

but of course never as King, his first visit, which set the tone today. He made it very clear that he recognised the power of the monarch, what his queen had done before him, and that he intends to follow in her footsteps. Capy Canne, thank you very much indeed. Well, I'm joined now by former newspaper editor, Emily Sheffield, Talk TV's legendary contributor, Adam Bolton,

and the Chair of the Confederation of British Industry, Lord Bill and Moria. Thank you very much indeed. All of you for coming. Lord Billimori, let me start with you. You knew the royal family. You've known the Queen before she died. You've known the new king and his Queen consort. What are your reflections on the last few days?

Yes, just to clarify, I'm past president to the CBI. I'm sorry. I've been very lucky. From my earliest, I was born and brought up in India. My father was a commander in chief of the Central Army in India when he was a young captain, he was ADC, aide-de-combe to the first president of India, Rajendip Rashad. And there are pictures of my house from my early memories, including now,

if you go to my house, family house in India, of my father, my mother, with the Queen, with the Duke of Edinburgh, on the state visit of 1961. And little did I think that fast forward, and I would actually have the privilege of not just meeting them, but meeting them many, many times and getting to know them, and as well as Prince Charles now, King Charles. the third. And it's been extraordinary. I mean, it's been an amazing inspiration. One of the things that people don't talk about enough is the devotion between the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

She used to refer to him as her rock. And I remember once coming out of the Zoroastrian party community, which I'm a patron of here in the UK, one of the tiniest minority communities in the world. In Harrow, we went into the prayer room with the Duke of Edinburgh, had to take our shoes off. We came out of the prayer room and we're both sitting next to each other, tying our shoes. shoelaces and he turned around to me and said you know I've had these shoes from the day I was married and that was the sort of sentimentality that existed between the two of them and sadly he passed away last year and very soon after that you know you saw her starting to use a walking stake yeah I don't think she ever really recovered from losing Philip actually so I've written a column for the sun tonight about Prince Charles I keep saying this everyone does don't they King Charles III about I've rarely seen any public figure rise to such momentous occasion.

I don't think in the way that he does. And as always, you write a column like that and it certainly will stand the test of time. But there was a moment today which I think just showed that underneath this exterior, which he's putting on, is a man that's just lost the mother that he loved, coming so soon after the father that he loved, under enormous pressure to hit the right. right tone and hit it running as our new monarch. And there was this moment where he went to sign an official document today with his ink pen. And this is how he reacted. I mean, this is for CBS News, this footage. I mean, I was surprised that we get to see that,

actually. I think he should have been better protected. But it was an insight just into behind the the veneer is a man who's under enormous pressure, both personally and professionally. Well, yesterday, I was privileged to be in Westminster Hall that was just being spoken about. There's 900-year-old Hall, one of the oldest parts of this country. I mean, along with Windsor Castle and the Tower of London, you have Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey. These are the ancient parts of our country. And he spoke about that and how much it meant to him. And with all of us, Lords and members of Parliament over there,

and you could see how moved he was. And actually, I saw a photograph today which showed that he was in tears during that occasion. But Emily, that little snapshot there of him slightly losing his temper about a faulty pen, I just thought it just showed us that beneath all this, there must be a torrent of emotions raging inside this new king. I'm sure, because he's probably also exhausted.

Yeah. What I was interested to get more detail on today, which was George Bush's daughter, was over to interview him. Sorry, was over here to interview the new queen consort. And clearly they were not expecting the queen to pass away, where my reading had slightly been that because our king had been with her all week, that they were concerned. I think this really did come as a shock. I don't think they were expecting. So he will also be suffering still from a shock. and you don't eat, I imagine the amount that he's having to deal with

and present himself the speeches becoming king. I doubt he's had any time to, I don't like using the word process, but in a way, as you say, he's not... To properly grieve. They haven't had much, and I am surprised. The world's cameras, Adam, aren't they? They're focused on this man now and his wife, Camilla, relentlessly from the second they appear in public

and they're having to appear in public all the time. whilst going through what I would imagine is pretty intense grief. Well, I agree with that. But on the other hand, the reason why the world's cameras are there is because, as the Queen said, you need to be seen that these rituals that they're going through visiting the four nations of the country are important in terms of establishing the monarchs, the head of state of all the United Kingdom.

And, you know, I'm afraid my reaction looking at that footage, and I know all the pressures that you've mentioned and all the undoubted genuine grief is my reaction is the Queen wouldn't have behaved like that. Right. And she would have made a joke of it. Well, she probably wouldn't have actually had that happen in front of a camera. I mean, that's the thing I'm surprised that he's not being better to take to.

These signing ceremonies are part of the whole deal. I mean, that's why they're taking place. I mean, we saw, I don't know whether Lord Bull and Moria was there, but at the session ceremony, everyone who was there, signed a document in public and quite a lot of them. But only CBS cameras were capturing that moment, and I'm just surprised we've been able to see it

because it does show a moment away from what we're seeing. I mean, I'm afraid I do think these instances, these off-camera moments can be quite revealing about what someone's really like. I want to talk, if I may, Lord Bill of Moria, there's this issue about how far do you go to show the Queen respect in cancelling things. There's been a whole slew of things cancelled.

The football was all cancelled at the weekend, but the cricket, the racing, the golf all went on and showed a respectful moment of silence and applause and then moved on, which I felt was the right way to handle it. What do you think about is centre parks today, for example, have suddenly decided they're going to stop everything on Monday on the day of the funeral and remove every family who's on the holiday there and tell them they've got to leave, which seems to me completely outrageous.

And the very last thing that Her Majesty would have wanted. What has happened over here is you've got a figure that has sort of risen above all other people in the world in many ways for 70 years, and you've got this individual's monarch of all monarchs, a queen of all queens, that is not just the most famous monarch in the world, but the most respected. I mean, I've received messages from every corner of the world. So you think Senator Parks were right?

So I'm saying that people that if you look at the sentiment that people are expressing, look at the people who started queuing to pay respects in Westminster Hall from yesterday. I remember yesterday when I went to swear my oath, I was told one of the peers said, do you realize people have started? But when you have a massive holiday company with a load of people who pay good money and they're told they have to leave all these parks around the country, I think that is a ridiculous way of supposedly showing the Queen respect. I think what you're seeing is companies,

frankly using as a bit of an excuse. I mean, I've had two of those, you know, those things when you phone up and you get a recorded message. Two of them saying, oh, we can't get your message today because of the circumstances. And, you know, we know people, I think it was in Norwich, closed bicycle parking spaces as a market. Well, there's food banks in Wimbledon

are being closed on Monday. And that caused outrage. People were saying, well, let me get this straight. We're going to be shutting down food banks for the most desperate hungry people in the country. Whilst at the same time, the reason given is because there's a funeral for one of the richest people in the world. The only thing I would say, and I don't know whether quite how it works out,

but rightly it's been called a bank holiday on Monday a day for everyone to show their respects. And I think some companies may have contractual things with their employees about their not being there at bank holidays and all that kind of. And also maybe not wanting to be accused of not allowing their employees to mourn their queen. Emily, I wanted to talk to you about Princess Anne, He put out a statement just before we came on air, saying how fortunate she felt to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother's life. It's been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys, witnessing the love and respect shown by so many, omniscientures, has been both humbling and uplifting.

We will all share unique memories, offer my thanks to each and everyone who shares our sense of loss. And she then goes on to say that she offers very grateful for the support and understanding of her dear brother Charles, as he accepts the added responsibilities of the monarch to my mother. the Queen, thank you. I do think in many ways, Anne is the most like her mother of all the other royals, actually. And watching her, following her mother's hearse all around the country, has been

incredibly moving, I find. Just watching... They're incredibly moving. I think if you hear anyone talking about the royals, Anne is the unsung heroine. She's the hardest working royal. The least celebrity chase. She's the least celebrity. She works the hardest. She doesn't chase the media. She's never got

caught in any kind of scandal. I mean, there may have been some when she was incredibly young, but it's... A few marriage. No, one marriage. Now there's a second. I mean, and her children are exemplary. So I think a lot of people have a huge amount of affection for Princess Anne. She's, I mean, again, I've been lucky and privileged to see this firsthand.

And her private secretary, who retired recently, he always used to have got the hardest working boss in the world. And it was real. She worked really hard. I think she's a real, unsung. And that was... You say Unsung. I mean, her title of Princess. Royal was recognition, really, from the Queen of Euro. No, no, I know. I just don't think she ever gets the attention that a lot of the other

world's get, and she should get more attention. I think she's not sure she's that keen on the attention. No, no, I think that's right. Lord, Billy Moore, just quickly about the economy. Everything's on hold this week in terms of the economy, and yet we know that ticking away is a gigantic financial crisis, a huge energy crisis. A lot of uncertainty in Ukraine. I'm going to talk about that a little later in the program, where it seems like the

Ukrainians are making moves against the Russians successfully, but what will that inspire from Putin in terms of retaliatory action? All this uncertainty will make things more difficult financially for this country. What state are we in? Well, actually, if you think about it right now, what's happened, it's unprecedented that last week you have a new prime minister and a new monarch in one week. And what a test of a country to see how resilient you are, that we all come together and you have this amazing transition.

that is taking place now where we're all sad. We love the bean and we're all sad. Actually, if anything, suspending everything for 10 days will make the economic situation underneath all this worse. What this is showing is the advantage of having a monarchy, one of the biggest advantage of a republic

if you have this continuity in somebody who's apolitical objective. How does it help the economy? It helps economy in a big way because you have this stability, this constance, the steadfastness through that figure. But that won't pay the bills, will it? It will help a lot. It helps our economy. helps our country. The soft power, the soft power that the Queen gave our country was...

But with your old CBI President Hatton, how bad is the economic situation right now in this country? The economic situation is dire. As bad as you've ever seen it? The energy crisis, it is as bad because you've had two years of pandemic, then the sad war in Ukraine, it's crisis after crisis, then the unsettlement of Brexit, which started in 2016. So for six years in a row, we've had challenges that we've had to cope with. Now, I'm I think the energy crisis, the good news is the government has said, we're going to have a cap for consumers. They've got a plan for businesses.

The big issue is the government has realized now that they helped during the pandemic, 400 billion pounds. I kept saying, don't stop. You need to keep helping consumers and businesses. You can't suddenly say, I have no money. And List Trust is saying that she's going to take. Do you think she's on the right track? Absolutely on the right track. Focusing on growth,

focusing on incentivizing investment, focusing on now saying, I'm going to help. help you, the cap of 2,500 pounds. These are all the right measures. Lord, Billy Moore, great to see you today. Thank you very much. You guys are coming back a little later, I think, so stay with us. Coming next, Prince Harry's been banned from wearing military uniform with this week's ceremonies,

but disgrace Prince Andrew, apparently, will be allowed to at least one of them. Is it fair? Should we care? Combating that with Prince Andrew's friend, Lady Victoria Hervey, and the author Petronella Wife. Welcome back to Piersball and Uncester. Whatever your views about Prince Harry's treatment of his father, our new king, of the royal family. His military service is beyond dispute.

Ten years in the British Army, two tours of Afghanistan. He was a war hero, but Harry won't be allowed to wear military uniform, a ceremony of events marking her death of his grandmother, Lake Queen. Prince Angela, the other hand, will be at least one of the events, a vigil. The Duke will apparently don naval attire for her final vigil in Westminster Hall. He, of course, did serve in the Falklands War, but he also recently paid a woman he claims he never met, up to $10 million to make a court case involving alleged sex abuse go away.

So the unpopular prince can't dress up, but the disgraced Duke can. You might be as bemused as me as to where the line is on this. I'm joined now by journalist North of Petrono O'Royd and Socialite and Aristocrat, Lady Victoria, Lady Victoria, welcome to both of you. Might be the poshest panel I've ever had. I'm called Piers and I'm the least posh person here. What do you think, Lady Victoria Bowes? I don't understand.

Personally, I've got no truck with Harriet. I'm thinking he bathed like an imbecile most of the times. However, I don't begrudge him the right to wear a military uniform after 10 years serving his country. And unlike his uncle Andrew, he has not been involved in a really disgraceful scandal. But he did desert his country. He left the country, yes. But he sort of decided he basically wanted to completely leave this country and go to America,

which is the worst timing. Why do that when your grandmother? is the queen, and she is in her last years of her life. But that's a different argument to me. The argument is about... But why is he allowed? Well, one serve 10 years, one serve 20 years. I mean, I actually...

One is disgraced, and one has just behaved quite badly. I think actually both of them should be allowed to wear them, because this is such a pugabend, and I think everything should be put aside, and they should both be able to use. Well, first of all, nobody's actually got to the real point of this is whose decision, was it? And I believe it was the Queen's decision.

Yes, of course it was a Queen. And this is what I'm hearing. Technically, Harry cannot wear... It's actually against the law for Harry to wear military uniform. Against the law? Yes. You can look it up. Really? Yeah, it's actually against the law because he was stripped of all his military titles.

And veterans, who are simply veterans, cannot wear military uniform. So my father, who fought in the First World War, could not have worn a military uniform. It's very interesting. When I tweeted, I thought Harry should be allowed to. A lot of veterans actually did reply saying he shouldn't. Well, technically he shouldn't. Now, Andrew was not stripped of his military titles.

He was sort of forced into retiring from him. But that's semantics, isn't it? That is semantic. I just think it sticks in the gullet, I think, of most of the British people. What sticks in the gullet? to wear a uniform. Why the hell can't Harry? Look, what sticks in the gullet? I do feel a little bit sorry for Harry.

Although, you know, it's a different circumstance. You know, Prince Andrew did not desert his country and go and move to America. Prince Andrews has a woman he says he never met. 10 million dollars to get 10 million from this? That figure is completely made up. You keep saying you're the only person who says it wasn't angry. It was in all the press. He did not desert his country.

That's a ridiculous statement. That's not to say he did not desert the army. Sorry, when even I am defending Prince Harry about something, exactly. It must be pretty unprecedented. Piers and I are very, very anti-Hari and Meghan. And the thing that upsets me most about this is the ammunition it will give to the Megan brigade

and all their mad Twitters supporters. And I think the story at the moment should be not about trivial, quarrels about uniform. but on unity and on grief. Oprah Winfrey popped up yesterday in an interview. Well, no, because... Let me finish. She popped up yesterday saying she hopes that the family,

that this death of the queen, can now heal the rift in the royal family. And I'm like, are you... I thought, are you kidding me? You're the one that started the rift. She is the reason. You enabled these two. It should go on national television. And let them, without challenging any of their statement,

let them spray down the royal. When Prince Philip was dying in hospital. why he was literally dying, they did that interview. Yeah, well, they weren't aware that he was actually dying. They thought they knew he was dying. He's 99 years old in the hospital. Come on. I think that's slightly irrelevant.

I'm always in Oprah's hypocrisy, where she says, I hope they heal the riff. Oprah, you did nothing to stop that way. It's not like Oprah. It's American hypocrisy because the assault on the Queen and the Royal Family itself is coming from the now radical left New York Times, which has hired a bunch of lefty English journalists

to bash the queen. But nobody in this country is listening to them. Nobody. But what we don't want at this time are silly media stories about rifts within the royal family. Well, the problem is there are actually risks in the royal family. When you see the four of them together

in this footage we're looking at now, we all know that this footage is misleading. There's no reproachment between the... No, no, William and Harry had each other's guts. Right. And let's be frank about it. Why did he tell you that? I have sources who know.

But at the moment, they certainly do. Is there any way back for Andrew into public life after what happened? Absolutely not. You think there is. I think gradually, I don't think it's going to happen overnight. Gradually, but... But he'll be dead before it happens. Well, he's not that old.

He's not that old, but I can't. Why would he be dead? Should he be allowed back? There's no public appetite. But how is someone like you who's a journalist? How can a journalist go and tell someone in the royal family what to do? Like, what gives you? Because I've paid to.

Exactly. Hang on, wait on. Victoria, Victoria. Hang on, we pay for them. That's the right we happen. We pay for them. But what right have you got to dictate? I'm so sick of people saying what right of journalists to give them.

When a journalist, when a journalist, and go, oh, well, he has to do this. Like, I'm not, I'm actually speaking out. Here's my point. The reason we're allowed to say what we like about the royal family, actually, is because we all pay taxes here, and that pays for them. They live off our money.

So, of course, we're allowed to have an opinion about all of them. That's the whole point. That goes with the territory. My issue about Andrew is, I think that Charles and William have decided there's no way back for him, certainly for a long time. And that may be just the end of it. My view is because I have.

Stop guessing. Can you be... I'm trying. I want to tell you a story. I mean, about eight, nine months ago, the Queen gave Andrew lump some money. Because she understood perfectly... Yes, he was one of her favourite children.

But she understood perfectly that there's no future of him under King Charles. None whatsoever. Charles would never let him back. William would never let him back. There's no return. why she wanted to make sure he was financially secure. And there was his love and sound handed over.

I'm sure that's probably right. I just find it so fascinating how, like, people at newspapers seem to know every little detail and people that actually... No, I know, but it's like, it's like so much of it. It's made up. Yeah, exactly. So much of it is just like a little fantasy in your hair. It's not a fantasy, actually.

It's a fact. A lot of it gets briefed by people. Just like how the amount that Virginia was supposedly paid, it went from 10 million. Let's be clear. They went to three million. Let's be clear. Andrew paid millions of dollars, inarguably, to a woman. He said he'd never met to make a civil case go away in which he was accused of sexually abusing her.

And that's why the British public doesn't want him back. He paid millions of dollars. If it was three million, three million has no lot of money to tell someone to go away. Right now, in the worst cost of living crisis this country's ever had. saying $3 million and a lot of money is to own death and not rooting the room. I've got to leave it there. I'm sorry. Guys, I'll leave you there.

Thank you both very much indeed for joining me. We're coming next. Ukraine defies the odds again with a massive counter-offensive. It's Putin's war and his regime. Now on the brink of collapse, defence experts on both sides of Atlantic have their say next, one of the warns we could be closer than ever to a nuclear strike. Welcome back to Pittsburgh, Morganon, Sense.

The world's attention has quite rightly been focused on the late queen. It's a momentous turning point. in our history and world history. But while our eyes have been temporarily averted, something extraordinary has been happening in Ukraine. The Ukrainians are defying the odds again. And before we talk more about Her Majesty or anything else, I sort of pay tribute to these Ukrainians

because while we mourn our late queen, Ukrainians are mourning their fathers, brothers, sisters and daughters every single day. As we come together to remember what makes our country great, Ukrainians are fighting and dying just to make sure their country still exists. exists next year. Thousands of Ukrainians have been liberated this week in a massive sucker punch counterattack

in the south and the east. It's been quite remarkable. Many said it couldn't be done. The Ukraine just didn't have the numbers, but in tanks from trenches, with brute force and unimaginable bravery, the Russian flag has been torn down. Ukraine has taken back more than 2,000 square miles of its country. This is the biggest turning point in the war

since Putin's invaders were battered away from Kiev at the very start and make no mistake. It's not the end. nowhere near, but it does show yet again what remarkably resilient people these Ukrainians are, and it's crucial they can build up from a position of this new strength. So now more than ever, even though our thoughts are rightly here and our late Great Queen, we should remember we must continue to back Ukraine, we must give President Zelensky what he needs. The late Queen's coffee was carried to London today on the same RAF plane that's been used to deliver British weapons and British aid to Ukraine.

two very different services of duty, but both, I think, equally important. Joining me now to discuss that is in Ukraine. It's former US Secretary of Defence under President Trump, Mark Esper, and chair of the House of Commerce Defense Select Committee, Tobias Elwood. And here's my pack, brilliant pack, Emily Adam, from earlier. So thank you for rejoining me. Tobias Elwood, before we get to this,

I also want to ask you, on the back of that last debate, this issue of Prince Harry and Andrew and whether they should be allowed to wear military, uniforms during this week of events in memory of the Queen. What's your view of this? I don't have a strong view on that. My focus is on the transition and making sure that we give the King all the support is provided. Some big decisions need to be made leadership-wise on Britain's place in the world.

We have a new Prime Minister, a new King. There's an absence of leadership on the international stage. It's not really coming from America. we've been hesitant, a little bit risk averse, across the West now. I just want to focus on making sure that we invest in Iran forces. And as you rightly point out, do not forget what is going on to Ukraine because it's moved into a very, very dangerous chapter. You're absolutely right to congratulate the Ukrainian forces.

Putin made a calculation that he thought the nation would collapse when he invaded. He was absolutely wrong there. But he was right on assuming that the West would sit on his hands, that the West would not want to get directly involved. We've left Ukraine to do the fighting. And now that there's been this massive surge, incredible advance, a counterattack by the Ukrainians, we must not kid ourselves that somehow Putin is defeated.

This is his worst setback as a president politically and militarily. I suspect he's going to come out fighting, and it could get very, very ugly indeed. All right, Dr. Mark Esper, I mean, there's no doubt it could, But there's also no doubt that what has been happening in the last two or three days in Ukraine is quite extraordinary. No, that's right. First of all, let me echo your comments about the Ukrainians. They have showed great skill and courage and grit in fighting the Russians.

And on the front lines of what I think is the autocracies versus democracies of the 21st century. So I think they've done an outstanding job. But you're right, the turnaround has been remarkable. They've shown great prowess on the battlefield. And look, Putin is his military has shown. extreme weaknesses from top to bottom, and it's been a great strategic failure on a number of counts. The question is, does he have any manpower and material left to really push back hard against the Ukrainians because they continue to deplete Russian combat capability?

Right. I mean, to buy it so, just in some news here, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, says 6,000 square kilometers of territory have now been seized back from Russian occupied forces. That's a huge amount of territory that they've regained. And I've seen several. several maps of that whole southeast region, the Dombas, and you can just see great swathes of Ukrainian territory being taken back and Russians in apparent retreat. So if they are going to retaliate in the way that you fear, they've got to get on with it, haven't they?

Yes, well, firstly, it's pleasure to share a platform with my friend Mark. You're absolutely right to say, how would this retaliation take place? This is a textbook deception, almost like the D-Day landings when we were pretending to go. to Calais ended up in Normandy, and Nazis had moved troops from Normandy up to Cali. You know, President Zelensky said he was going to Kizn, down east of Odessa, ends up in the north near Kharkiv, and pushed through 30 miles in, coming close to the Russian border. And the supply chains have collapsed, the Russian morale is depleted, poor equipment, as we've been discussing,

ammunition's running low and so forth. But I make it very, very clear. Putin is in this for the long game. This is part of a wider strategy that we must get our heads around. We've moved into a new era of insecurity. So what happens in Ukraine today, this month, indeed this year, is actually part of a wider tapestry of events that I think are going to unfold in front of us. He's meeting President Xi next week once again.

His key ally on the international stage here, no doubt will ask him for support as well. Putin, this is his war of choice. He can't afford to lose it, and he's going to come out fighting. Dr. Huss, Ruff, but final word to you on this, Do you think the Ukrainians can win this war? And can they win it quite quickly, given what has been going on? I absolutely think they can win this war.

It won't be done quickly. You know, they have great momentum right now, but they have to be careful not to outrun their logistics and their ability to secure their lines of communication. At some point, the Russians will stop and dig in and defend. But the broader strategic issues are there, as was just outlined. You know, Putin is going to reach out to Xi Jinping, is a strategic partner.

You see some rumblings today in Armenia, where the Azerbaijani's are pushing against Russian partners. Maybe we'll see something happen in Georgia, where there's another frozen conflict. There's a much bigger geostrategic play here going on. Got to leave it there. Dr. Respa and Tobasov. Thank you both very much indeed. Appreciate it. Quickly to the pact, to your action. I mean, this would normally be leading the news, I think, this story. Understandably, it's been slightly relegated because of what's happening here. But an extraordinary return of events in Ukraine. And when I was there, the resilience from these people

and determination not to give the Russians an inch was very palpable. It looks like they're carrying through on what they told me. Well, I think as both those experts pointed out, this is a great moment to celebrate what they've done, but Putin remains a formidable opponent who can gather huge forces to hit back at some point. But I think this has been an amazing thing for the Ukrainians' morale.

Because what's incredibly important is their morale stays up and the more wins they get, even if they get pushed back again or, you know, as I said, the war is not going to end any time soon. Keeping that morale is absolutely... It reminds me a bit. I mean, you know, Churchill's great quality was to persuade the British public that we could beat the Nazis, even when it appeared we hadn't got a chance. You feel that with Zelensky a little bit.

I certainly do that he has driven his people to a... mindset or they believe they can win. Well, I think there's no doubt that Zelensky was the sort of unforeseen factor in all this conflict that he was seen as a bit of a joke figure because he'd been a television actor and all the rest of it. And he has absolutely risen to the moment, proved himself very skillful, communicated, both to his own people and to the rest of the world. And he survived.

So I think all of that is very important. And it's also important that he has come out with some very, very strong statements against to Putin and effectively laid down the conditions that he would accept, which are really saying get out of Crimea and get out of Ukraine. I think it's going to be a fascinating few weeks now to see if they can keep its momentum going. Because if they do, and the Russians think they might be losing, Putin himself, his own position may come into peril from his own side, which is what many people hope happens. The only thing to worry about is it may be replaced by worse, a more nationalist leader.

But you can't keep not doing things because you think worse may happen. You've got to take him on at some stage. And I love what's happening at the moment. We're coming next. The Lake Queen is at Buckingham Palace for the final time. After being flown to London this evening, I'll talk to a pilot who used to fly the Royal Family Around the World next. Welcome back. My next guest, Graham Lorry, through the Royal Family around the world for more than 20 years, including flying the coffin of Princess Dino back after that horrible car crash in France in 1997. He joins me now. Thank you so much for coming in today. It must have brought back memories to you today. I was watching the coverage from Edinburgh Airport, and I felt for the guys there. I mean, they've had... probably three, four days to think about it. I had about eight hours. And how nerve-ranking is it when you're handed that kind of responsibility?

Well, I think because it's such a team effort, it involved, I mean, literally our engineers, half an hour before we were due to take off, was the first we'd even thought about bringing the body back, because normally it would have come back day four. And on, you know, the op-order said day four. And so they had to rush and change the fit of the... In fact, we changed the aircraft, it was easier. But when you're actually flying, Graham, something like the body of the Princess of Wales,

the most famous woman in the world, after this horrendous crash, which shocked the world, really. What are you feeling as you're in the cockpit? I think, you know, the shock was the thing that day. I mean, it was with everybody. The actual grief came later, I think. But you couldn't forget it. When we got airborne from Villa Coubley in Paris

with the coffin in the hold, every single air trafficker that we spoke to said, please pass on our condolences to the Prince of Wales. And go direct here. Well, we were trying to get the timing right to arrive at 7 o'clock in the evening. And we managed it. You flew 2,200 trips for the Royal Family,

including the Queen, 90 times. When you heard the Queen had died, what were your feelings? Very sad, obviously. But the immediate thing that came to me, how lovely, that two days before she was working hard, doing what, the duty to the end. And I think the fact that it was then relatively quick, you know, I felt after all she had done for this country,

that was probably the way she would have liked. And you were King Charles' personal pilot. How do you feel he's doing as King, early days? When I saw that speech he made on Friday evening, I thought, there, that's how he's going to be. And I think he's going to do a splendid job, as people are all saying about the long apprenticeship. It's true, though, isn't it? All the government papers have been going through him for 50 years. So he knows exactly how the country's run and what happens.

there's nothing new that you ought to be able to teach him there. And he's had plenty of time to just think about what it's going. There was one little detail of what happened after you flew back Diana's coffin. You remember being invited to see Charles Highgrove two days later. And the first thing he asked you was how you and your family were coping. Yes. In fact, that was when I'd had the slight incident at Eile, not when I flew the process back. But yes, that again shows the man he was.

We got this phone call at 8 o'clock in the morning from the police post at Highgrove. The Prince of Wales would like to speak to you in half an hour. He came on the phone. First question, how are your wife and family coping, with all the press coverage, obviously. And, you know, I eventually took the wrap for that, quite rightly, because I was captain of the aircraft. He did exactly, as he was told by me that day. It says a lot about him, I think. And thank you very much for your recollections.

appreciate it. Well, that's it for tonight. Thank you very much. Emily, Adam. I appreciate it. We'll be back tomorrow night. That's it from me tonight. And the Queen is tonight back at Buckingham Palace for her last night ever at that great palace for this great moment. Tonight.