Mishal Husain is tipped to be the new face of flagship Royal events for the BBC – replacing Huw Edwards

Mishal Husain, one of the presenters of Radio 4’s Today programme, is the frontrunner to replace Huw Edwards as the face of the BBC’s Royal events, The Mail on Sunday has been told.

Sources said that the 51-year-old – who was chosen to conduct Harry and Meghan’s engagement interview – has been rehearsing for major national occasions, such as the next Coronation.

Edwards, 62, who was the BBC’s highest-earning newsreader, was suspended in July last year over a claim that he had paid £35,000 to a young person, who was 17 when the alleged relationship began, in exchange for sexually explicit images. 

The youngster’s mother contacted a tabloid newspaper with her claims once her attempts to speak to the BBC failed.

The Corporation recently apologised to the young person’s family after a review found it had mishandled their complaint.

In a statement, the mother said that the family had ‘suffered immense pain’. 

‘If the BBC had handled the complaint properly, we would have not had to go through this hell,’ she said. ‘We have been ripped apart as a family.’

Edwards, who also fronted the BBC’s Election night show, has not appeared on TV since his suspension and is not expected to return to the Corporation.

Last night a BBC source said that ‘no decision’ had been taken over who will present its coverage of Royal events, adding: ‘As you’d expect, we regularly rehearse various news scenarios, and Mishal’s been one of the many presenters who’s participated in rehearsals. There’s no more to it than that.’

It was reported a fortnight ago that former BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg would succeed Edwards as the main anchor on the Election night programme. 

She is expected to co-host with News at Ten ­regular Clive Myrie.

If Ms Husain is confirmed as the main replacement, it would mark the growing ascendency of female talent at the BBC.

When Edwards took over the Election coverage from David Dimbleby in 2019, it heralded the end of Mr Dimbleby’s long reign as the BBC’s face of the nation’s most significant events. 

Edwards presented the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the wedding of Prince William and Kate in 2011, the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan in 2018, and the funeral of Prince Philip in 2021.

The presenter also commented on Trooping the Colour and the Festival of Remembrance.

His coverage of the Queen’s funeral was his last major engagement for the Corporation, with Kirsty Young stepping in to lead the coverage of King Charles’s Coronation last May.

Ms Husain’s interview in 2017 with Harry and Meghan was later dismissed by the Duchess of Sussex as ‘rehearsed’ and ‘an orchestrated reality show’.

The broadcaster restricted her response to the words used by the late Queen to critical remarks about the Royal Family by the couple: ‘Recollections may vary.’

Shortly after the October 7 attacks on Israel, Ms Husain – the first non-white woman to join the male-dominated Today programme – was embroiled in an angry exchange with Grant Shapps over the Corporation’s refusal to brand Hamas ‘terrorists’.

Edwards, who also fronted the BBC’s Election night show, has not appeared on TV since his suspension and is not expected to return to the Corporation

It was reported a fortnight ago that former BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg would succeed Edwards as the main anchor on the Election night programme

The Defence Secretary suggested the broadcaster did not seem ‘interested’ in condemning the bloody attacks.

And earlier this year, she was at the centre of controversy over an interview with Home Secretary James Cleverly, in which she questioned him over his alleged – and denied – use of the word ‘s***hole’ to describe Stockton-on-Tees.

It led to the headline: ‘BBC Today presenter turns the airwaves blue.’

Shortly after the October 7 attacks on Israel, Ms Husain was embroiled in an angry exchange with Grant Shapps over the Corporation’s refusal to brand Hamas ‘terrorists’