![\"Claudia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/claudia-winkleman-and-tess-daly.png\")
<\/p>\nTess Daly and Claudia Winkleman were left visibly overwhelmed during tonight’s Strictly Come Dancing final when they discovered Queen Camilla had penned a personal tribute to mark their departure from the BBC show.<\/p>\n
The presenting duo audibly gasped upon learning the identity of the message’s author, struggling to contain their emotions as the heartfelt words were shared with the studio audience.<\/p>\n
Ms Daly expressed her gratitude following the royal acknowledgement, stating: “Thank you so much for your lovely words, from the bottom of the hearts it means so much to us. <\/p>\n
“We have loved being part of such a wonderful show. It has been a privilege to be a part of your weekends.”<\/p>\n
The Queen’s solo statement represents a rare personal intervention to commemorate a significant television moment.<\/p>\n
Judge Craig Revel Horwood, who has been part of the programme since its 2004 debut, was tasked with delivering the Queen’s message to the departing hosts during the live broadcast.<\/p>\n
The tribute arrived just moments before the series winner was announced, catching both presenters completely off guard.<\/p>\n
Her Majesty, a devoted follower of the ballroom competition who reportedly enjoys dancing herself, chose to personally compose the farewell letter rather than issue it through official royal channels.<\/p>\n
The message was subsequently published on social media, allowing the millions of viewers who tune in weekly to share in the moment.<\/p>\n
Queen Camilla’s decision to write directly to the presenting pair underscores the cultural significance of their two-decade contribution to Saturday night television.<\/p>\n
In her letter, the Queen described the pair’s on-screen partnership as potentially “the greatest Strictly partnership of all.”<\/p>\n
She went on to praise the warmth, compassion and happiness they had brought to viewers over the years.<\/p>\n
LATEST BBC STRICTLY DEVELOPMENTS<\/p>\n
BBC Strictly: An emotional Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly bid farewell to the show<\/p>\n
| <\/p>\n
BBC<\/p>\n
“I have often thought that Strictly is not so much a show about dancing as about friendships: the bonds forged, the struggles overcome and the joy shared in undertaking a joint endeavour,” Her Majesty wrote.<\/p>\n
She concluded by urging the departing hosts to “keeeeeeeep dancing,” signing off “with warmest gratitude and admiration.”<\/p>\n
The Queen’s message acknowledged that the duo’s chemistry had been central to the programme’s enduring popularity, telling them: “I think I speak for everyone when I say you have been utterly fabulous.”<\/p>\n
Ms Daly has fronted the flagship BBC programme since its inception 21 years ago, initially alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth, while Ms Winkleman transitioned from hosting spin-off show It Takes Two to become co-presenter in 2014.<\/p>\n
![\"Queen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/queen-camilla.jpg\")
BBC Strictly: Queen Camilla issued a letter honouring the two presenters<\/p>\n
| PA<\/p>\n
The pair announced their joint departure earlier this year, revealing they had always planned to leave together and felt the timing was right.<\/p>\n
The Strictly final also featured another royal contribution, with the Duchess of Edinburgh appearing to support contestant Ellie Goldstein, who returned for a group performance.<\/p>\n
Sophie praised the model, noting: “I’m Patron of MENCAP and Ellie is one of our amazing supporters. She has dispelled quite a number of perceptions of people with learning disabilities.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman were left visibly overwhelmed during tonight’s Strictly Come Dancing final when they discovered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2974,430,3623,156,111,139,69,9855,6156],"class_list":{"0":"post-195097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-celebrity","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-royal","16":"tag-strictly-come-dancing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}