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David Dimbleby ‘rejected’ offer to cover King Charles III coronation-Stella Akinwumi-Entertainment – Metro
The coronation takes places next month.
David Dimbleby has covered key royal events in the past (Picture: REX)
Veteran journalist David Dimbleby reportedly turned down the opportunity to cover King Charles’ upcoming coronation.
The upcoming event will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
The King acceded the throne on September 8, 2022, upon the death of his mother – but it is traditional for a full ceremony to be held a significant time later as a mark of respect to the late monarch.
The broadcasting cooperation has now revealed further coverage and programming to celebrate the coronation across television, radio, BBC News, iPlayer, sounds and online, with the likes of Kirsty Young and Huw Edwards leading the broadcast.
According to reports, Dimbleby – who has covered important royal events in the past – didn’t want to be involved in the upcoming celebrations.
The Times claimed that the former Question Time presenter didn’t want to ‘play second fiddle.’
David Dimbleby was brought in for the BBC’s coverage of the Queen’s funeral (Picture: AP)
King Charles is set to be crowned later this year (Picture: Getty)
This comes after Dimbleby admitted he didn’t understand the obsession with the royal family despite presenting the BBC’s coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
‘How can I put this? I think it’s an irrational system. And I think it’s a taboo subject in this country to talk about it,’ he said.
It’s certainly a taboo subject for the BBC to talk about. I think it’s a very strange institution to have in the 21st century,’ he added to the Times.
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David admitted in an ideal world he would ‘start from scratch’ and choose for the country to have a difficult constitutional arrangement for the head of state – and he jokingly suggested a reality show could be the way to go.
‘Yes. I mean, the only way you could change it is if you start from scratch,’ he added. ‘And you have a competition, like The Apprentice, or that one when they send people into the jungle, to see who becomes head of state.’
Metro.co.uk has reached out to David Dimbleby’s reps for comment.
The Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort will be available to stream on Saturday May 6 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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