Humphrys has had a complex relationship with the Royal Family and admitted his bias stemmed from being an “ardent republican”. The BBC star was sworn at by Prince Philip after he “accidentally” took his car during the Duke of Edinburgh and Her Majesty's 1975 tour of Mexico. He claimed the Queen turned down his interview requests three times and in one instance firmly stated she would never talk to him. In a column for the Daily Mail last year, Humphrys described a sit-down chat with Her Majesty as “the holy grail”. John Humphrys tried to bag an interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry after their Oprah chat (Image: GETTY / BBC)