A presenter known as the new Graham Norton was brushing up on his royal etiquette after being chosen as a tour guide for the Queen. Ryan Tubridy, 37, said he planned to use sporting rivalry between England and Ireland to break the ice. Tubridy, who is regarded as a straight version of camp chatshow host Norton, has been given the job of guiding the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh round the Guinness brewery today. He hosts the country’s flagship TV chat show The Late Late Show and a radio show on RTE, the state broadcaster.
Yesterday Tubridy, known as a “young fogey with ears as big as the FA Cup”, outlined his preparations on Twitter. He tweeted to his followers: “Yes, yes it’s HM (her Majesty) not HRH (Her Royal Highness), thanks for the correction. I’ll get it right tomorrow, I promise… nerves”
He added: “No curtseying or bowing apparently! Just a solid handshake and good manners...Should be interesting.”He also complained that the coverage of the royal visit on Radio 4’s Today programme was dominated by the security threats, urging the BBC to “let them know that there’s more to it than that”.
Tubridy, who has written a book on President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland, will stand in for Norton on Radio 2 for eight weeks this summer. He said that the Queen’s visit is more important than the subsequent one of US President Barack Obama. He joked he would use Ireland’s 24-8 victory over England in the Six Nations at the Aviva stadium - formerly Lansdowne Road - to get the conversation going. “I will say there are some great sights we have here,” he said. “There is the Aviva stadium, where England and Ireland would have met recently in a match. For two points, Prince Philip, who won?”
Tubridy’s grandfather was active in the IRA during the war of independence but would not have objected to the Queen, he told his listeners yesterday morning. “He would say, time has passed; the peace process has kicked in so let’s give this lady the respect she deserves. How many of us had relatives who fought the English back in the day, but things have moved on. Let’s show the Queen and Prince Philip a good time. It’s a great triumph to get her here. There are only a very small number of people who will make a nuisance of themselves, the rest are happy to see her. “It’s a hugely important visit and one which will show the rest of the world how beautiful Ireland is.”