Graham Norton says the public response to the death of Queen Elizabeth has been "gorgeous."
Graham Norton on the public response to the death of Queen Elizabeth
The late monarch passed away at the age of 96 following a 70-year-reign on September 8 and TV star Graham, 59, has labelled the response as "irrational" but "genuine" after 400,000 people queued for up to 30 hours to visit her coffin as she lay in state.
On the eve of her funeral, Graham told The Sunday Times: “It’s gorgeous to see the way people respond. It’s not rational. But it’s genuine
Meanwhile, the former drag queen has fronted the celebrity chat show 'The Graham Norton Show' since 2007 and claimed that actress Dame Helen Mirren - who famously took on the role of Her Majesty in the 2006 film 'The Queen' - "makes the couch better" when she makes an appearance.
He said: "She makes people on the couch better. I don’t know what it is. I think it’s because she’s interested. So they’ll start telling a story and she’ll turn and gaze, and they’ll up their game, ‘because Dame Helen is actually listening to me, I’d better up my story. Tom Cruise is also incredible. He comes in and gets introduced to everyone, as happens with every guest, and he remembers everyone’s name. Clearly, that is some sort of mental trick, but it’s a very impressive one. That means people backstage love him.”
The Queen's state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey in London at 11am on Monday (19.09.22), with a committal service taking place at St George's Chapel, Windsor at 4pm and she will then be buried with the Duke of Edinburgh - who passed away in April 2021 aged 99 - in a private ceremony at 7.30pm.
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