Despite being a close friend of the Royal Family, This Morning host Gyles Brandreth has appeared to hint to a conflict with King Charles.
After a caller’s statement on the show, the 75-year-old host and novelist told Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond that he was ready to “move on.”
Gyles, a regular on Celebrity Gogglebox, had been playing a new quiz show-style game with volunteer Les in which he managed to defeat the caller despite forgetting Dolly Parton when asked about country musicians.
Les, on the other hand, had no ill will and enthused over meeting Gyles instead.
‘He did have a question about his best friend, and I’m referring to King Charles here,’ Les excused himself, while Gyles was left with a blank expression.
He went on: ‘It’s a pleasure to speak to somebody so close to the King.’
As Gyles awkwardly laughed over the comments, Dermot said: ‘Well he was more close to the late Queen, we’re not entirely sure how King Charles feels about Gyles to be honest.’
‘Moving on,’ Gyles swiftly said, laughing it off.
The former politician, who prided himself on being ‘competitive’ ahead of the game, was questioned about King Charles and who the king had hosted a state visit for.
‘The South Korean leader,’ Gyles proudly exclaimed before Les interrupted: ‘That’s your best friend Gyles, that’s not fair!’
Gyles has long been a close friend of the Royals, particularly Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and in his book Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, published shortly after the Queen’s death, he shed light on the late monarch’s stoicism and wrote about how she was forced to ‘go on’ following the death of her beloved husband Prince Philip.
While he avoided discussing his bond with King Charles on This Morning, Gyles has previously lauded his reign, telling Saga magazine earlier this year, “This is going to work out rather well – for them and for us.”
‘I think that in these troubled times, it’s actually rather reassuring to have an older King.’
Gyles attended the King’s Coronation in May, when he was involved in an embarrassing seat swap with Lionel Richie.
He said after the event: ‘There were 2,300 people there and I arrived a little bit late, but I did manage to get in and I was shown where my seat was. I sat down in it, and a moment later there was Lionel Richie saying, “I think this is my seat”.
‘I sat in Lionel Richie’s seat. Can you imagine the humiliation?’
It all worked out for Gyles, who was’very honoured’ to find himself seated next to Victoria Cross recipient Australian soldier Keith Payne.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.
