Sir Trevor McDonald left ‘shaking’ after ‘mad’ encounter with Prince Philip

Sir Trevor McDonald has recalled being taken for a drive by the late Prince Philip – and was left shaking by his motoring skills.

The 85-year-old broadcaster was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1999 for his services to journalism. He met with the late Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 99, to record a documentary titled The Duke: A Portrait of Prince Philip in 2008.

Sir Trevor was then also granted a personal tour of the Sandringham estate by the late Prince after they had spent time together recording footage for the documentary. The news anchor was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday when he reflected on highlights of his career.

Sir Trevor was promoting his own book, titled On Cricket, when he shared memories of his time with Prince Phillip. He reportedly told audiences: “I am not allowed to say this publicly, but I thought his driving was slightly mad.”

According to The Telegraph, he continued: “I remember he was extraordinarily generous in giving me his time like this. But he put me in this super duper thing we are driving around, it was around Sandringham so there was nothing in his way and he would stop to wave to people who worked there and so on.

“But then we drove into a puddle of mud and he went ‘how did this bloody thing get here, why can’t I get this out’, and I thought I mustn’t say ‘because you just put it in there’.” The former ITV News at Ten host previously shared his joy at the fact he was knighted in the late Queen’s 1999 Birthday Honours list.

The BBC quotes him saying at the time: “I was born in a little backwater in Trinidad in the Caribbean and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be knighted.” It has been almost two decades since Sir Trevor bowed out of hosting the News At Ten. He opted to step back after helming the news in the run up to the historic election of Barak Obama as the president of the USA in 2008.

He said at the time: “I’ve tremendously enjoyed the opportunity to help re-establish News at Ten over the last year and to work alongside Julie Etchingham, who is a fantastically talented journalist, but I’ve made no secret of the fact that I cannot be in the presenter’s chair forever. Anchoring ITV News’s live coverage of a hugely exciting and historic US election seems the opportune moment to leave on a high”

The star has continued to helm documentaries in the years since stepping back from news presenting. And his new book, On Cricket, is a charming memoir about his life mixed with stories of his love for the sport.