Kate Hawkesby: What a day we've had in London

What a cool day we’ve had today. We met David Walliams from ‘Little Britain’ and ‘Come Fly With Me’ – two comedy shows that could never be made these days without being cancelled immediately – in fact I don’t even know if there are clips still up on YouTube– probably been gassed by now. But they were hilarious shows. He’s also been the judge on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ so he’s a big name here. But Walliams is probably most known worldwide for his books I think – fabulous author – Gangsta Granny, Billionaire Boy Robo-dog. He’s an extremely entertaining children’s book author and he very generously gave my daughter some books, he signed them for her and her little brother and sister, he did photos with us, and he was genuinely very funny. He actually just took the piss out of us. He called us ‘a very stylish family’ but then he did have a crack at Mike about his ripped jeans. He said Mike reminded him of ‘a Karl Lagerfeld’ he said he was ‘wearing clothes designed for a much younger man..’ we were in fits. He also said he loved Mike’s ‘stylish sunglasses’ so they were hitting it off. Then after the interview we walked out to his car with him at which point Mike spotted that his car was one he'd owned before, but David had the new model. So, turns out Walliams is a car guy too, so suddenly he’s telling Mike to hop in the car and they’re chatting about cars, then he offers us a ride home – given we’re only staying a short walk away from the BBC we had to decline that, but what a lovely and hilarious guy. As he drove away he wound down his window and yelled out at us ‘ok then leave me alone now!’ so that was a treat. Then we met Graham Norton. Graham Norton we met last time in 2018 when we were here for Harry and Meghan’s wedding, and he was so lovely, polite and effusive. Very humble and low key, and still the same today, just such a lovely man. As he arrived and saw us all, he said, ‘gangs all here!’ Again very generous doing autographs for Marley, photos, and even participated happily in her BeReal post! Anyway, given he’s got a place in New York, I asked him which he preferred. I explained we’d just come from New York, and we couldn’t decide if we like London or New York better. He didn’t even pause for a beat, “New York”, he said. He was very impressed with Mike’s coronation invite and asked if I’d had an invite too, or if Mike could bring a plus one. When Mike explained no it was just him, Graham said, ‘not to be rude, but why you?’ We were all so busy laughing I’m not sure what Mike’s answer was, but Graham was very excited for him, asking if he could take his phone in, if he was wearing tails, if he would recognise all the heads of state there etc. Anyway two very lovely chatty personable and self-deprecating men, doing amazing work here, and really just topping off a fabulous two weeks in London for us. Exhausting, but fabulous. The boss texted today and said ‘are you ready to come home?’ I had to say, nope, I’m not, I’d stay here forever. But the school run and the dog and life as normal awaits, so it’s been a blast, it's been a privilege. But it’s definitely not goodbye to London, it’s see you again soon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.