News Release

Paddington Meets The Queen - Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace on BBC One revealed as P&O Cruises first Memorable Moment Award winner

‘Paddington Meets The Queen - Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace, BBC One’ won P&O Cruises first Memorable Moment award at last night’s 2023 BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises, the only award at the ceremony voted for by the public.

The winning moment received 15 million YouTube views and was shown during the BBC’s coverage of the Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace. Carrying a tray of afternoon tea through Buckingham Palace, the footman (Simon Farnaby) places it onto the table of Her Majesty and her guest Paddington Bear (Ben Whishaw) wishes her a happy Jubilee. After drinking all the tea, Paddington offers Her Majesty a marmalade sandwich from under his hat, at which point The Queen reveals her own sandwich hidden in her handbag. As the footman announces that the Jubilee concert is about to begin, Paddington thanks The Queen “for everything”.

The accolade was presented to the voice of Paddington Bear, Ben Whishaw by presenting duo, Chris and Rosie Ramsey who said: “Presenting the very first P&O Cruises Memorable Moment award was a huge honour and to award it for such an iconic moment was so so special. The public overwhelmingly voted to crown this nominee as its winner and we couldn’t agree more! Paddington Bear in the palace, incredible!”

Claire Popplewell, Creative Director, BBC Studios Productions said: “We are so thrilled that what started out as an idea to celebrate the late Queen Elizabeth’s well-known sense of humour in her Platinum Jubilee year has evoked so many smiles and touched the hearts of people not just in the UK but all over the world. As well as being chosen as this year’s Memorable Moment from an outstanding field of fellow nominees, we also hope Paddington Meets The Queen will prove to be timeless - and we’re honoured to have been a part of this wonderful piece of television history.”

P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “Television has the power to entertain, inspire and move audiences and 2022 was another phenomenal year for showcasing the best of the best in British entertainment. We are delighted that the public voted for such an incredibly touching piece of TV history as its deserved winner. Watching it when it was first broadcast, now or in 50 years’ time, it can’t fail to bring a smile or a tear and there’s no greater possible entertainment accolade.”

The six nominees for P&O Cruises Memorable Moment award 2023 were:

  • Derry Girls, Channel 4 – The Finale, the people of Northern Ireland vote overwhelmingly for peace
  • Heartstopper, Netflix – Nick and Charlie’s First Kiss
  • Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace, BBC One – Paddington Meets The Queen
  • Stranger Things, Netflix – Lucas, Dustin, and Steve rescue Max from the demonic Vecna by playing her favourite song - Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill
  • The Real Mo Farah, BBC One – Sir Mo Farah revealing he was illegally trafficked to the UK
  • The Traitors, BBC One – The Final Roundtable

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#BAFTATVAwards with @pandocruises  

Notes to editors:

For imagery visit:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ifcaevflqb7uh0s/AAD-2mWPM8dZhORtnFtnWlN7a?dl=0

https://bafta.thirdlight.com/link/BAFTAPressImages/@/folder/13

Winner’s speeches available at:
https://youtube.com/@bafta

About P&O Cruises

P&O Cruises is Britain’s favourite cruise line, welcoming guests to experience holidays with a blend of discovery, choice, relaxation and exceptional service catered towards British tastes. Each of the seven ships has its own appeal from family friendly or exclusively for adults. With over 200 destinations worldwide, P&O Cruises itineraries are carefully curated to inspire discovery and are varied to suit newcomers and experienced guests alike.

Arvia joined the P&O Cruises fleet in December 2022 as the second LNG-powered, Excel-class ship embodying the newest trends in travel, dining and entertainment. Arvia offers a Caribbean/winter season of fly-cruise holidays from homeport Barbados and Mediterranean holidays from Southampton during the summer.

P&O Cruises works with the best of the best including Gary Barlow who is music director of The 710 Club on Arvia and Iona and has delivered a number of unique musical moments on board. Crafted to Gary’s creative vision, The 710 Club showcases an eclectic range of performances and offers an opportunity for up-and-coming musicians to get their break. Gary also joins guests for exclusive performances on Arvia and Iona holidays. Multi award-winning performer Nicole Scherzinger will be the creative force behind contemporary and breath-taking late night shows to be performed in SkyDome on board Iona and Arvia and P&O Cruises Food Heroes include chefs Marco Pierre White, Jose Pizarro, Shivi Ramoutar and Kjartan Skjelde who has created Norwegian speciality dishes, as well as award-winning drinks expert Olly Smith.

Recent awards for P&O Cruises include:

British Travel Awards Winner 21/22 – Best Cruise Line for Family Holidays.

Cruise Critic Editors’ Picks Awards Winner 2022 – Best for Families.

The company is part of Carnival Corporation & PLC (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE:CUK).

About BAFTA

BAFTA – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts - is a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – which includes workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the UK, USA and Asia – BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For more, visit www.bafta.org. BAFTA is a registered charity (no. 216726).

For further press information please contact:

Michele Andjel, michele.andjel@carnivalukgroup.com 07730 732 072
Jenny Michalczuk, jenny.michalczuk@pocruises.com 07867 268 742
Jenny Hadley, jenny.hadley@pocruises.com 07825 120 088