Meet our Presenters

What is it like to be involved in The Queen’s 90th Birthday?

The Mall being taken over by 10 thousand picnickers and a colourful parade on Sunday will be an event unlike any we have ever seen

Frankly? It’s exciting. A national event, where so many thousands of people are taking time out of their everyday lives to join in the celebrations, feels significant. Our Monarch is, of course, a national symbol but more than that this Queen’s 90 years of living spans such monumental change and progress that marking her birthday is also a chance for us to reflect on the unique and remarkable life she has lived and the changes she has seen our nation through. Being part of the team that helps celebrate that story and bring it life into peoples' homes is a – slightly nerve wracking – privilege.

How are you preparing for the weekend of coverage?

There’s no substitute for swotting – I’ve learned from almost a decade of doing Desert Island Discs that marshalling the facts beforehand enables me to relax and enjoy the encounter of a live broadcast. I don’t think my job is to then wear all those facts in my head on my sleeve but rather to use them to inform and structure the questions I might have for guests, or the comments I might make about the live pictures viewers see. Good broadcasting is about giving context, and using a light touch and so often in TV it’s about knowing when to shut up and let the wonderful pictures do the talking.

What are you most looking forward to over the weekend?

We’ll be on air for quite a few hours over the coming days and truly the very best bits about live events are the ones that surprise you – so as yet I have no idea what the best bits will be. However what I do know is that Friday’s service of thanksgiving will see a stunning roll call of Royal Family members and I have to admit to loving a good formal frock and hat so their arrivals at St Paul’s should make for good viewing, whilst the service inside the cathedral promises to be profound and exquisite. Saturday’s spectacle of Trooping the Colour is in ceremonial occasion second to none. But above all else the Mall being taken over by 10 thousand picnickers and a colourful parade on Sunday will be an event unlike any we have ever seen… Let’s just hope the very British weather behaves itself.