A tea, a boner and a blue lipstick. A specialist in crowned heads, Stéphane Bern shared privileged moments with one of them, Elizabeth II. To talk about the death of the Queen of England, which occurred this Thursday at the end of the afternoon, the host of Secrets of History came to entrust unpublished anecdotes to the microphone of Philippe Vandel in Culture Media. “She is a historical figure who has gone down in history and it is true that the media have made her an icon”, he begins by explaining. Several times invited by Buckingham Palace, Stéphane Bern looks back on the moments he shared with him.
The queen and the episodes of History Secrets
One of the strongest moments for the host remains his visit to the Palace when he was decorated by the Queen in 2014. Elizabeth II had confided in him her interest in the show Secrets of Historyin particular on the episode which concerned his grandmother, Queen Victoria, then that on his son, Prince Charles, who became king this Thursday.
“I told her that I had also done a program on her recently and she replied: ‘On me? But I’m not dead'”, says Stéphane Bern with a smile. “I said to her ‘yes madam, but you entered the legend alive. And that, I think she liked it a lot.’ The British monarch loved France and always showed it.
Stéphane Bern’s gaffe
It was in the 1990s that the journalist was invited for the first time to take tea at Windsor, a ritual for the queen. He saw her again two years later in France, in 1992, when he was working for Le Figaro. President François Mitterrand then asked him to “make sure there were people on the Champs-Élysées” for the arrival of Elizabeth II, scheduled some time later.
“On this occasion, I had the chance not only to go to dinner at the Élysée with Queen Elizabeth, but above all to have her receive me in audience at the Hôtel Marigny. There, I made the mistake of my life! She said to me: ‘I believe that you work for Le Figaro, Explain me’. I say yes, I work for the newspaper supplements, it’s a bit like the Sunday Times. Ah, what a gaffe!” he exclaims. “He had just published the book by Diana: her true story. I saw her pout all of a sudden – because that’s how she showed her emotions – it was quite nice.”
The calculated time of death announcement
The queen’s distrust of the tabloids was also illustrated until her own death. According to Stéphane Bern, if the death of Elizabeth II was announced at 7:30 p.m., just like Georges VI, it was to prevent the evening tabloids from publishing the information. “In the British tradition, the morning papers, the Timesthe Daily Telegraph are much more valued and rewarding than the evening newspaper. And so, it’s an old reflex”, explains the journalist.
The host says that the queen died in the early afternoon, when her grandsons were not yet at her bedside. The official announcement was made several hours later. “So you could see that the media gear was there from the start. From her very coronation, since she agreed to wear blue lipstick so her lips could be seen during the live television broadcast of her coronation,” he explains. His coronation was indeed broadcast in black and white, the very first filmed in history for the crown of England, and blue is the color that could be seen best on his face.
Between anecdotes, tributes and special editions, the host should return at length to the life of the queen. A special episode of Secrets of History was also broadcast this Thursday evening, after the special antenna of the editorial staff of France 2.