huw edwards speech

Huw Edwards praises ‘superstar VIP’ David Beckham for not skipping queue

The BBC presenter spoke about celebrities in the queue

TV & Film Editor
September 19, 2022

Huw Edwards’ comments on David Beckham attending the Queen’s lying in state have going viral on Twitter, with many enjoying the BBC presenter’s comments on the retired footballer. David waited in the queue for several hours to pay his respects to Her Majesty, with Huw explaining: “There have been quite a few familiar faces in the queue for the lying in state as Westminster Hall.

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“We did see a certain David Beckham there on Friday. He was widely praised for having queued for hours and hours. Not jumping the queue because he’s a superstar VIP, no, he was in the queue for many hours – and good for him.”

WATCH: Huw Edwards praises David Beckham for queuing

Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: “@thehuwedwards is a national treasure already and then he goes and does this. Take a bow son.” Another person added: “I know there are a lot of highly-paid stars at the BBC, but whatever they’re paying Huw Edwards, it’s not enough.” 

Others were quick to mention other stars who waited in the queue, including Tilda Swinton, Dame Kelly Holmes and Daniel Mays.

David waited several hours in the queue 

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield received backlash after a photo of them paying their respects without waiting in the queue went viral. However, a spokesperson for This Morning confirmed that the pair were there in their capacity as journalists, saying: "Hello everyone, we would like to clarify something. We asked Phillip and Holly to be part of a film for this Tuesday's programme.

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"They did not jump the queue, have VIP access or file past the Queen lying in state – but instead were there in a professional capacity as part of the world's media to report on the event."

ITV confirmed that Holly and Phil were there as part of the media

In the days since lying in state began, the queue has swelled in size and at one time reached a wait time of at least 24 hours, according to the official queue tracker, before dropping down to 13.5 hours on Saturday evening. The queue has finally closed ahead of the monarch's funeral.

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