Eamonn Holmes asks Queen for interview at OBE ceremony

Eamonn Holmes asked the Queen for his biggest interview yet as he picked up an OBE for services to broadcasting.

The TV host said he was “just trying to get the big names” when he told the Queen he had spoken to almost every member of her family but her.

Speaking at Buckingham Palace after collecting his honour, the broadcasting stalwart said his request was laughed off.

He told the Press Association: “She talked about breakfast television and asked me how long I had been doing it and I said ‘too long’.

“I told her that I have interviewed almost every member of her family except her. I said, ‘so you have got to put that right for me’.

“She laughed – I think that meant no.”

He joked that he was “always seeking the interview, just trying to get the big names”.

Describing how it felt to be honoured, the veteran of breakfast TV said he was “feeling very honoured, very privileged and very humbled”.

He added he had been overwhelmed by the response from well-wishers on social media, and he would be having a party later with his wife Ruth Langsford and their children.

Asked about his recovery following double hip surgery two years ago, 58-year-old Holmes said: “If you’re going to get your hips fixed, there is no finer walk to have them fixed for than this one.”

Also honoured at the investiture ceremony were national security adviser Sir Mark Sedwill, who received a knighthood under the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, for services to UK national security.

He described the day as “extraordinary”, saying it was also a chance for him to thank his family.

The oldest person to be honoured was 101-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Mordaunt Cohen, who was made an MBE for services to Second World War education.

He said: “I am honoured and delighted that Her Majesty has been able to confer this personally on me.”