Platinum Jubilee: Gloria Hunniford ‘devastated’ to miss out on National Treasures pageant after a fall at her home

Gloria Hunniford has told of her disappointment at not being able to take part in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant after a fall at her home left her looking like she’d gone “10 rounds with Mike Tyson”.

he 82-year-old was due to be on the National Treasures 1950s bus with long-time friend Sir Cliff Richard on Sunday as part of a star-studded procession celebrating the monarch’s 70 years on the throne.

But the TV presenter and Loose Women panellist was forced to pull out after tripping on a rug at her Kent home and hitting her face on a hard floor. She sustained a fractured facial bone.

Sir Cliff appeared as a guest on Monday’s Loose Women and anchor Ruth Langsford told viewers that Gloria had been due to be on the panel too so the pair could discuss their experience of the pageant.

Instead, Gloria rang in to take part, explaining that she had fractured a bone beneath her eye so didn’t want to appear on camera.

“Very simply, I tripped on a rug and took a real dive, absolutely on my face, on a very hard floor,” she said.

“I have a red full eye and right down to my neck and other places is terrible, so there was no way I was going to do a Skype call today, let me tell you.

“I’ve broken a bone just below my eye, the one that keeps the eye in the socket, so I’ll have to go and see about that. I look like I’ve done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and lost really badly.”

Gloria added that she had shown Sir Cliff a photo of her face following the fall. He told how he had joked with her by saying that all she had to do to get out of the pageant was write a letter to the Queen.

He also said he had advised her that when “anything extreme” happens, it is best to rest up and stay calm.

Gloria explained that she had been looking forward to being on the National Treasures 1950s bus with Sir Cliff and that the pair had been excitedly talking about it for months.

She admitted she was emotional watching the procession heading along The Mall from the comfort of her home.

“I watched every frame yesterday, often having a few tears into my cup of tea,” she said.

“The whole weekend was fantastic. The concert was brilliant, and I was so envious yesterday. The Pageant was so beautiful. I loved every second of it.”

The Rip-Off Britain co-host was among the celebrities who helped to kick off a weekend of Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

On Thursday evening, Gloria, who was recently honoured at home with an RTS NI award for outstanding contribution to TV, featured in a two-hour programme with Kirsty Young on BBC One. It showed highlights from earlier in the day, including the Trooping of the Colour and the fly past at Buckingham Palace.

Gloria also joined fellow guests Lulu and Julien MacDonald to talk about their experiences of meeting the Queen.

Denise Welch stepped in to replace Gloria on Loose Women. As they discussed their highlights of the weekend’s celebrations, Langsford said she had been “sad” not to see Gloria there and she had been “devastated” to miss the occasion.