Ben Shephard says him and his Good Morning Britain co-stars have been preparing to announce the Queen's death for years.
The ITV broadcaster made the admission today as he appeared on the breakfast show alongside his co-host Susanna Reid for a special edition of Good Morning Britain as the national period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II continues. The Queen passed away last week at the age of 96, with Buckingham Palace confirming the sad news in a statement.
The announcement of the Queen's passing was made around 6.30pm on Thursday evening. Ben admitted that he and his co-stars and the whole show had been planning for several years for the monarch's eventual passing.
During a chat with Andrew Marr, who was live on the radio when Queen Elizabeth passed and broke down as he shared the news, Ben explained the protocol behind the show for the Queen's passing - in case it happened whilst they were on air.
Speaking on the ITV show this morning, Ben said: "It's gripping to listen to because of course you're doing what great broadcasters do and you're talking about something that you can feel is coming but you don't know when it's going to happen.
"And obviously, the news comes through whilst you're live, whilst you're talking. And then you have to interrupt yourself."
He admitted all at the show - and other shows - had been preparing and rehearsing for the Queen's passing for "years".
"All of us here at various times over the last 10/15 years have prepared for this, have rehearsed for this. We'll plan what's going to happen; there's a protocol about it all. But the reality of that moment for all of us has struck really hard," he explained.
He made the comments during a chat with Susanna and broadcasting legend Andrew Marr, who joined the ITV breakfast show today to discuss how he felt about having to break the news of the Queen's death live on air.
Andrew explained: "We all knew it was going to happen. Of course it wasn't a surprise, she was 96; we're all human and all that. And yet it wasn't a surprise, but it was a shock. And that I think is because we've lived all our lives of the Queen as part of the backdrop. She's always been there. It's like part of the landscape has suddenly been removed."
