Yahoo Finance Simon McCoy reveals Prince William 'loved' his sarcastic royal baby coverage
Watch: BBC anchor shows disgust with royal baby news
Prince William "loved" the sarcastic coverage ahead of the arrival of the royal baby, according to the news reader who got both praise and criticism over his commentary.
Simon McCoy, who left the BBC on Thursday to go to GB News, revealed that he spoke to William after covering the arrival of Prince George outside the Lindo Wing in 2013.
At the time, McCoy was stationed when the Duchess of Cambridge was still in labour, so there was very little information.
But that did not stop the appetite for hours of rolling news, much to McCoy's frustration.
On one occasion outside the hospital, he said: "Plenty more to come from here, none of it news because that will come from Buckingham Palace, but that won't stop us."
On another occasion he said: "Until then we are going to be speculating about this royal birth with no facts to hand at the moment."
Reflecting on that moment on his last day at the BBC, McCoy revealed that while many thought his take on the news was inappropriate, the royal baby's father was not one of them.
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Simon McCoy reveals that Prince William was watching his reporting of the birth of Prince George from inside the Lindo Wing.
Afterwards he praised McCoy saying he got it “just right.” pic.twitter.com/SACVxBkwnD— Charlie Proctor (@MonarchyUK) March 25, 2021
He said: "I spoke to William afterwards and he said 'we loved the baby stuff'.
"I'm standing with Prince William and I said 'Your Royal Highness, you mean the birth of your son?'
"And he said 'yeah, it was great, we were watching inside and you got it just right.
"All the papers were saying 'oh how dare they?' but I think we just touched the mood."
But after it was pointed out to him that the baby was named George, not Simon, he replied "there's still time".
The Duchess of Cambridge had all three of her children in the Lindo Wing in West London, and on every occasion hordes of television and newspaper reporters would wait outside for news and first glimpses of the baby.
But the confirmation of the baby's arrival is actually given on an easel outside Buckingham Palace.
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However William and Kate would appear with the baby for a photo opportunity, and cameras would capture the departure of the new arrival with their parents too.
On some occasions, the wait for any news had been so long that news anchors had interviewed each other as well as waiting members of the public.
McCoy's brand of news reporting has won much praise on Twitter over the years, with some of his asides going viral, as well as his difficulty getting through amusing news segments.
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At the end of 2020, he told viewers there would be a highlights package of the year, only to for nothing appear on screen and the news anchor to say: "Exactly, it’s farewell 2020."
He also accidentally began a news report with a refill pack of A4 printer paper in his hands, instead of the usual iPad.
He's the latest big poach for GB News, being set up by Andrew Neil, and will join Dan Wootton and Colin Brazier on the new network.
John McAndrew, director of news and programmes at GB News, said: "Simon’s journalistic integrity, warmth and personality is a perfect fit for what we’re doing at GB News.
"He’s a brilliant journalist with an exceptional ability to relate to people in an upbeat way so we’re keen to get him out from behind a desk and talking to people from all parts of the United Kingdom."
