Disgraced! Huw Edwards lashes out at BBC as he marks Queen’s d3ath anniversary
Former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards has accused his former employer of attempting to “erase” his 40-year broadcasting career as he reflected on the historic day he announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II to the nation.
Edwards, who was once one of the BBC’s most prominent presenters, revisited September 8, 2022, in a new Substack post marking four years since the monarch’s death.
He had been the face of the BBC’s coverage that afternoon, delivering the news that the Queen had died at Balmoral.
But Edwards, whose career later collapsed following his conviction on child image offences, said he now struggles to place himself emotionally within that moment.
“What I have found harder, in the years since, is locating myself within that broadcast at all,” he wrote.
“I can describe what was said and how it was said; I can describe the protocols observed and the history behind them; but I struggle to recover the interior experience of the person delivering it.”
Edwards Accuses BBC of ‘Erasing’ His Career
Edwards then turned his attention directly to the BBC, claiming the events of recent years had been followed by an effort to remove him from the broadcaster’s history.
“That effect has been compounded by the events of recent years, and the BBC’s subsequent determination to erase a 40-year career which reached its zenith on that afternoon and in the days that followed,” he wrote.
The BBC did not provide a response in the source to Edwards’ claim that it was attempting to erase his contribution.
Despite his criticism, Edwards still described being trusted to announce the monarch’s death as an “extraordinary trust.”
A Chaotic Morning Before Historic Broadcast
Edwards also recalled the unusual circumstances that preceded the broadcast.
The night before, he said his phone had been stolen from a table at a London Nando’s.
Without a mobile the following morning, Edwards was eventually found by his son at a barbershop in Cheapside.
His son reportedly urged him to get to the BBC immediately.
Within around 45 minutes, Edwards was sitting in the presenter’s chair at New Broadcasting House as the broadcaster prepared to activate its plans for the Queen’s death, known as Operation London Bridge.
The result was one of the defining broadcasts of Edwards’ career.
At the time, he was at the height of British television news.
What followed over the next two years dramatically changed his public and professional life.
Career Ended After Criminal Conviction
Edwards was publicly named in July 2023 by his wife, Vicky Flind, following allegations originally published by The Sun.
Police later said those particular allegations did not amount to criminal conduct.
Edwards was suspended from the BBC and eventually resigned in April 2024 on medical advice.
A separate police investigation, however, led to his arrest.
In July 2024, Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children after receiving 41 illegal images through WhatsApp.
He was later given a six-month suspended prison sentence and placed on the sex offenders register.
Those offences transformed the public perception of a presenter who had spent decades covering some of the biggest moments in British public life.
Queen Broadcast Remains Career Peak
Before his downfall, Edwards had been closely associated with major national events.
His announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death became perhaps the most significant moment of his career, followed by days of extensive coverage surrounding the mourning period and funeral preparations.
Four years on, Edwards appears to view that broadcast with a mixture of distance and significance.
He said he can still recall the protocols, words and history surrounding the moment, but not fully reconnect with the person he was while delivering them.
At the same time, he remains bitter about how the BBC has treated his previous work since his conviction.
His latest comments therefore combine two very different parts of his public story: the extraordinary professional trust once placed in him, and the criminal case that later brought his BBC career to an abrupt and damaging end.
