Huw Edwards on his 20 years of royal commentary and his ongoing battle with depression

The world will be watching and Huw Edwards will have butterflies. ‘I’m always nervous,’ says the veteran BBC presenter who will host Trooping the Colour, the huge formal event that will see the Queen’s household troops on display at Horse Guards Parade and provide a spectacular start to the Platinum Jubilee weekend. 

‘I mistrust people who say they’re not nervous, because I don’t think it’s normal,’ he says in the warm, clipped Welsh accent that has seen us through royal weddings, funerals and state occasions for 20 years, as well as reading the News At Ten for almost as long. 

‘Adrenaline facilitates focus. I have a few butterflies every night at 10 and I’ve done thousands of those.’ 

But there’s an added edge to Trooping the Colour (also known as the Queen’s Birthday Parade), he says, because this time it’s personal. 

‘It’s colourful, musical, upbeat. You get a famous balcony appearance with the entire Royal Family, which doesn’t happen very often, and there’s an RAF flypast. So it’s a big event and the Queen loves it.’ 

Her Majesty is 96 and has had to miss certain events recently because of mobility issues, but Huw is confident she will be there. ‘It would take a lot for her to miss the Birthday Parade, she’s atten­ded almost every one.’

He also happens to know that the tables will be turned at a certain point in the day and she’ll be watching him for a change. 

‘There’s a telly on in the room in Buckingham Palace that opens out onto the balcony, so they all watch the coverage before they step out. I’ve been told on good authority that Prince Philip would say something disobliging to the screen. Hopefully not about me!’ 

He’s just found out that was also true for the recent State Opening of Parliament, which Her Majesty was unable to attend. ‘I’m glad I wasn’t told during the broadcast that the Queen was back at Buckingham Palace or Windsor watching it herself. 

‘Apparently she watched the entire broadcast. So that brings its own pressure.’ 

Huw meeting the Queen at the opening of New Broadcasting House in 2013. Huw first hosted Trooping the Colour in 2003

What difference does it make? ‘I’ll just pause a second and be sure I’m about to say the right thing. You never want to upset your viewers, least of all the Queen.’ 

The 61-year-old has more experience of these great occasions than almost anyone else alive, having also taken over election-night coverage from David Dimbleby three years ago. Still, he prepares hard.

‘I’m a worrier. I tend to overthink. If I get a note from a viewer or somebody points out on social media that I’ve got something wrong – and I know they’re right – it can wreck my entire day.’ 

He makes mistakes so rarely that he can remember every one. ‘For my very first Trooping the Colour in 2003, I was so nervous I said the Queen had recently seen either Harry or William passing out at Sandringham. 

‘It should have been Sandhurst. I knew straight away that I was wrong.’ What was the reaction? ‘I got letters saying, ‘You shouldn’t be doing this job.’ There were others that said, ‘What is this Welsh guy doing, get him off!’ 

But Huw was reassured by an ally in the Army. ‘I confessed afterwards to a guy called Billy Mott, Garrison Sergeant for the Welsh Guards at the time, who was a massive character. 

‘He said something along the lines of, ‘Get a life! Of course people know you know the difference. Go and have a drink.’ That was just what I needed. This guy was arranging the parade, so if he was happy I was happy.’ 

We’re used to seeing Huw dressed smartly in a jacket and tie, sitting up straight with his silver hair slicked into a quiff that some say makes him look like Robbie Williams’s distinguished big brother, but today he’s relaxed in a blue shirt and cardigan, drinking espresso just across from the BBC at the Langham Hotel. 

He can even smile at one mistake: calling the Massed Bands of the Guards Division the Massed Gangs of the Bards Division, which sounds – aptly for someone who loves the language and culture of his homeland – like a gathering of militant Welsh poets. 

‘I did that at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. Thankfully the Queen hadn’t arrived but everyone else had including the prime minister, the government and the heads of the Armed Forces. 

‘The place erupted in laughter. There was no hiding place. I said, ‘Should I say that again?’ And people laughed again.’ 

After all these years of commentating on her life, how well does he actually know Her Majesty? ‘I’ve only met the Queen a couple of times, in the company of other people, and then to have maybe a five-minute conversation. 

‘Once at the Palace for a reception and once when she came to open New Broadcasting House. 

Huw with his mother Aerona. He admits that he didn’t tell her that he was suffering with depression as he didn’t want her to worry

‘I got the distinct impression she might watch the News At Ten quite regularly. I wanted to ask her, but they don’t like it when you do that sort of thing.’ 

He adds, ‘That level of contact is ideal. It means I know what it’s like to chat to the Queen, what kind of sense of humour she has and how she interacts with people. 

‘I know what makes her respond warmly and the kind of conversation she likes. But more than that, I don’t know. 

‘More than that, I feel I shouldn’t know. There’s a distance which is right for the job.’ What does he mean? ‘I’m not there as somebody who’s blowing the party balloons up, so a bit of detachment is good.’ 

His encounters with Prince Charles have been more intimate, most recently up at his residence in Scotland. ‘We were walking in the garden, maybe three years ago. 

‘There was a group of us, then suddenly just me and him for quite a while. I like that he has very strong opinions but invites you to deliver your own, and listens. 

‘He has a great sense of humour, although lots of people don’t get it. He’s eccentric in his way, but that’s rather appealing. 

‘He can be disarmingly honest. All of those things impress me.’ 

Huw was born into a Welsh-speaking family in Bridgend in 1961 and brought up in a village near Llanelli where his mother Aerona, 85, still lives. She was a teacher, while his father Hywel was a professor of Welsh literature at Swansea, an author and supporter of the nationalist party Plaid Cymru. 

‘Some of my best friends who are republicans may get irritated by this, but Prince Charles has taken his duties as the Prince of Wales very seriously. He learned Welsh. 

‘He’s very well read in terms of Welsh history. He takes an interest in Welsh life and culture. You can’t fault him for the way he’s tackled the job.’ 

That’s as close as he gets to a personal opinion about the royals, as an avowedly neutral presenter, although there’s a strong reaction to the idea that they should skip a generation when the time comes and go straight to William as king. 

‘No is the answer, that would drive a coach and horses through the notion of inheritance and stability and continuity and what the monarchy is meant to represent.’ 

His wife Vicky is a television producer, which must have been a help when Huw chose to take a 20 per cent cut a few years back as the BBC tried to equalise pay for its male and female presenters. They live in Dulwich, south London, and have five grownup children. 

Raised a Christian, he still goes regularly to Welsh chapels in London to sing hymns, listen to sermons and speak in the language, sometimes with his mother. I’ve heard he also calls her every night, is that true? 

‘Well, let’s be clear,’ he says confidentially in that deep, sonorous voice, leaning forward. ‘Several times a day. I always used to ring once a day, then after my dad died I thought, ‘She’s going to be alone.’

So now they speak in the morning, afternoon and when he’s on the train home after doing the News At Ten, which she watches. ‘She will say, ‘You looked great tonight, it was a really good programme.’ 

‘Or she’ll say, ‘You looked tired, you need a good night’s sleep.’ The tie I wear is often quite a contentious issue.’ 

Does she ever say she loves him? He looks astonished by the question. ‘Every day. And I say it to her. 

‘That’s how we end the phone call. You could argue we say it too much!’ 

There has been one thing he couldn’t mention to her, though. ‘Mum always says to me, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were suffering from depression?’ 

‘Well, the truth is, I’m very close to her, but I didn’t want her worrying about me.’ 

It’s only recently that Huw has chosen to speak out about his struggles, which began 20 years ago. ‘At the worst end, you don’t even want to get out of bed. 

‘That’s when you need a bit of help. If that means, as it has in the past, taking some antidepressants or whatever, fine. 

‘I’ve got no problem with that. If I get a migraine, I take a pill for it. Depression is no different.’ 

Has he done therapy? ‘Oh yes, but a long time ago. I don’t want to be rude, because I think it does help lots of people, but for me, it didn’t touch the sides.’ 

What has worked for him is to take up boxing training at a gym near his home, lose weight and find out how exercise can also help with your mental state. ‘The last bad patch I had was in 2019. 

‘I’ve been pretty good since then, but I think it’s wrong to give people the impression that it happened and then everything was great again, because to be honest, that’s not how it works. I don’t think it’s something that ever leaves you.’ 

Since going public on the subject, the response has moved him. ‘I’ve been astonished by how many people have been in touch. 

‘Lots of young colleagues too. I’ve been taken aback by how many people are struggling.’ 

It must be a help and an inspiration to see someone speak openly about these challenges while also holding down several hugely challenging jobs. And when Trooping the Colour and the official celebrations for Her Majesty’s 70 years on the throne begin, Huw Edwards will be there as ever, calmly in control. 

‘You want to do it to perfection, if you can. I will be nervous, but part of my confidence will be in the fact that I’ll have done the preparation. I’ll be ready.’ 

• Huw presents the Platinum Jubilee Trooping the Colour on Thursday at 10am on BBC1.