The BBC’s veteran royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell, is to retire after 47 years of service at the broadcaster. Witchell, who became a royal correspondent in 1998, will step down next year.
Covering the latter decades of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the accession of King Charles III, Witchell has been a mainstay of royal coverage for 25 years.
In 2005, he grabbed the headlines after the then Prince Of Wales criticised him for a question about his forthcoming marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles. Referring to Witchell, Charles said under his breath: “These bloody people. I can’t bear that man. I mean, he’s so awful, he really is.”
Before joining the royal beat, Witchell was the main presenter of the BBC News At Six and the newly relaunched BBC Breakfast.
On 31st August 1997, Witchell was the first journalist to broadcast the confirmed news of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Likewise, in 1979, he was the first to relay the news of the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.
