Huw Edwards was one of the most recognisable faces on British television, having anchored coverage of major national events and presented the BBC’s News At Ten for decades.
The 62-year-old fronted the flagship nightly news programme for the last 20 years, earning a reputation as a respected veteran broadcaster, before he resigned from the corporation in April.
On Monday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed the former presenter has been charged with making indecent images of children.
Edwards faces three charges over alleged activity between December 2020 and April 2022 and is due in court on Wednesday.
Born in Bridgend and brought up in Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, Edwards joined the BBC as a trainee in 1984.
During his four decades at the corporation, he was among the broadcasting teams leading coverage of historic events including the late Queen’s funeral in 2022 and most recently the coronation of the King in May 2023.
Edwards, a married father of five, also announced the late Queen’s death on the BBC in September 2022.
Over the years he was the BBC’s go-to presenter for big news events and was front and centre in live broadcasts of election coverage, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the wedding of the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018, and the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021.
He was also the BBC’s voice at Trooping the Colour and the Festival of Remembrance.
Edwards was a Westminster correspondent for 13 years and played a key role in the BBC’s political reporting, taking over election coverage from the long-serving David Dimbleby in 2019.
He told Radio Times in 2019: “I’m going to let you in on a secret: the first time a senior BBC manager dangled this carrot in front of me was in 1992. So it’s been at the back of my mind since then.”
Edwards was the corporation’s highest paid newsreader, with a pay bracket of £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24, before he resigned, according to the BBC’s latest annual report.
This last salary marked an increase from 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and 439,999 for 180 days presenting on BBC One, as well as news specials.
In 2018, it was reported he agreed to take a pay cut following revelations over unequal pay for men and women at the BBC.
Edwards said in 2021 that he was considering his future presenting News At Ten as he approached his 60th birthday.
“A time comes when you’re bound to reassess what’s in front of you,” he told Radio Cymru in a Welsh-language interview.
“Now that a big milestone is here, which is 60 years old, it’s natural for a man to think ‘Am I going to continue in this job for another five years, or do I want to do something different?’
“The nightly news business, after 20 years, that can be taxing, even though I still enjoy the job.
“I don’t think I’ll be doing that for long. Because I believe that, in the first place, I think it’s fair for the viewers to get a change.
“Secondly, I have co-workers who are very talented – it’s time to give them a chance too.”
But Edwards said he would not be giving up journalism entirely.
He added: “I won’t disappear tomorrow from the 10 o’clock news because I’m still enjoying myself.
“But of course, I’m thinking about the working patterns of the future. And the truth is that I don’t want to sustain these working patterns for a long time to come, because I don’t believe it’s a very wise thing at all.”
An article on the BBC website in 2002 said Edwards was determined to stamp his own identity on News At Ten.
“You don’t want to let people down, but at the same time, I want to do it in my own way. I don’t want to be a clone of Sissons or Buerk,” he said.
Edwards, who attended Llanelli Grammar School and graduated in French from Cardiff University, is an honorary professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at his old university.
In June 2023, Edwards picked up the best live event honour at the Tric Awards for being among those to cover the state funeral of the late Queen, and in February he received the Broadcast Awards’ special recognition award.
Edwards is listed as a vice president on the website of the National Churches Trust and has appeared on Songs Of Praise.
He has also made documentaries for the BBC including Wales: Who Do We Think We Are? and talked about his depression on S4C’s Huw Edwards Is 60.
In a documentary in 2021, Edwards revealed he has had bouts of depression over the last two decades which have left him “bedridden”.
“Like everyone that suffers with depression, you don’t get one bout of it. It comes and goes,” he said.
“For me, it started around 2002 I think. I went down fairly quickly and I couldn’t understand it.”
Speaking on a podcast hosted by Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, Fortunately… With Fi And Jane, he said he decided to share publicly that he has depression as he felt it was “complete hypocrisy” to support organisations such as the Shawmind Foundation or Mind without explaining why.
“I also felt that it might be someway helpful to people if I opened up about it and say, ‘You can do a job and you can be successful’, whether it’s just reading a bit of autocue or doing whatever it is… while also dealing with issues like that,” he told the podcast.
