BBC News Awkwardly Mixes Up The Queen Swimming And A Whale Stuck In The Thames

BBC News was royally mistaken as it attempted to tell viewers about how a small whale became stranded along the River Thames.

On Monday, concern was growing for the Minke whale – which is between 10ft (3m) and 13ft (4m) long – that was trapped at Teddington Lock in south west London.

On the corporation’s 24-hour-rolling news channel, newsreader Martine Croxhall attempted to keep viewers up to date.

She said: “The search continues to locate an injured whale in the River Thames after it escaped a first rescue attempt.”

However, the image shown on screen was the Queen as a teenager in a swimsuit with the caption: “Queen’s swimming memories.”

The journalist caught the mistake and quickly tried to acknowledge the error.

She said: “That was the Queen with her life-saving badge on her swimsuit, but I didn’t have time to tell you. Don’t know why.”

Moving on to the sport, reporter Chetan Pathak noted: “Nicely done, Martine.” 

The story involving the Queen was the monarch recollecting becoming the first young person in the Commonwealth to receive a junior lifesaving award from the Royal Life Saving Society.

As a 14-year-old the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, earned her junior respiration award in February 1941, after completing training at a gentlemen’s club in central London, where she had swimming lessons with her sister Princess Margaret.