“But I’m not dead!” : Stéphane Bern remembers the day Queen Elizabeth II left him speechless (ZAPTV)

This Friday, January 17, 2025, Stéphane Bern was present in the Secret Box to remember in particular his relations with the late Queen Elizabeth II. The TV host notably revealed a very surprising anecdote about a rather difficult exchange to carry out with the former monarch.

Stéphane Bern is one of the only French personalities to have had the opportunity to speak with Queen Elizabeth II. As a TV presenter passionate about history and more particularly the British monarchy, the path of Yori Bailleres’ companion has sometimes crossed that of Elizabeth II. This Friday, January 17, 2025, in the Secret Box, the one who mourned the death of his brother for a long time spoke of the “5 or 6 times” during which he met the queen. Faced with Faustine Bollaert, he tried to remember what he felt when exchanging his first words with this monarch who was so important to the British crown: “I remember very well because first when you are introduced to her, first you feel like you’re seeing a living mythit’s a myth, it’s everywhere, banknotes, coins, stamps”, he began.

Then he continues in these terms: “She’s almost a virtual being, she’s everywhere, and then, when you chat with her, it’s a very kind, adorable grandmother who asks you questions always aware of who you are, she is knowledgeable”. And one of the encounters that Stéphane Bern will remember all his life is when he was decorated by Queen Elizabeth II as Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire. This distinction was a way for the monarch to thank him for promoting the monarchy in France. “I didn’t have much” he remembered when looking back at a photo of this solemn moment.

“A courtier’s journey”: Stéphane Bern looks back on a special exchange with Queen Elizabeth II

He confides in more detail about this moment and a very surprising exchange he had with the queen: “In fact I was decorated for service rendered to promote the British monarchy and its history to the French public so she thanked me for Queen Victoria (…) and I said to her: ‘That’s good, I’ve just made a secret of story about you’. And she tells me ‘but I’m not dead’” he remembered, one little sentence leaving him completely speechless. Then, Stéphane Bern was able to respond to him in these terms: “’But ma’am, you entered the legend alive‘, a courtier’s journey” he congratulates himself, hilariously. What a gentleman!