Queen Elizabeth II: Gyles Brandreth pays tribute to monarch
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Gyles Brandreth, 74, has been a friend of the royal family for several decades. He was first introduced to them when he became chairman of one of Prince Philip’s favourite charities, the National Playing Fields Association.
Since then, his relationship with the royals has even led to him writing numerous books on their lives. These included two on the Queen and Prince Philip and a third discussing King Charles’ relationship with Queen Consort Camilla.
Gyles has frequently spoken of his fondness towards Charles and Camilla, particularly the latter.
Perhaps to his surprise, Gyles bonded with our new monarch thanks to his love of the popular BBC Radio 4 game, Just a Minute, on which Gyles appears frequently.
King Charles even made a surprise appearance on the quiz, which requires contestants to speak about a subject for one minute without hesitation, deviation or repetition, when it celebrated its 50th anniversary back in 2016.
As well as revealing that he is an avid listener of the radio show, King Charles also divulged to Gyles that he also enjoyed playing the game and liked to get his sons involved too.
Recalling Charles’ extraordinary tale, Gyles told Express.co.uk: “I discovered that the new king listens to Just a Minute, but, better than that, he told me that he sometimes used to leave messages for his sons, William and Harry, on the answering machine in the style of Just a Minute.
“So, he would leave the message inside 60 seconds and try to do it without repetition, hesitation or deviation.
“He thought that was very amusing but I don’t know if his sons had listened to the programme so I don’t know whether they entirely knew what was going on!”
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Gyles was a part of the BBC’s team of broadcasters leading coverage during the national period of mourning.
The former MP said that although the Queen’s death is “tremendously sad”, he has “high hopes” for King Charles’ reign.
He continued: “It is, of course, tremendously sad and leaves a great void. Nonetheless, what an amazing life and to be still on duty doing your thing aged 96 two days before you die, it’s fantastic.
“It has been interesting to watch seamlessly how the new reign has begun. I know not everybody feels this way, of course people have different views, but it has been great to see it working so well.
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“I have high hopes for the future, I think God Save the King and I am a big fan of the Queen Consort.”
It comes as Gyles is celebrating the release of his brand-new book, A History of Britain in Just a Minute.
Dubbed a “hilariously addictive romp through British history”, Gyles takes readers through 1,000 years of Britain as though he was playing Just a Minute.
On his new venture, the This Morning regular explained: “The idea is, if you want to, you can play the book at home like a game.
“Give somebody a subject, like Guy Fawkes, and see how they do against the clock. Then, you can read my version and see if I’ve done any better.
“Although, I don’t think I got everything right so don’t get the book to help you through your GCSEs!”
A History of Britain in Just A Minute by Gyles Brandreth out now RRP £16.99 (BBC Books).
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