Sir Nicholas Soames: To me, Winston Churchill was just a loving grandpa

8 May 2020, 09:38

Winston Churchill's grandson Sir Nicholas Soames talks of his pride

Sir Winston Churchill's grandson Sir Nicholas Soames told LBC how he just knew the wartime Prime Minister as Grandpa and didn't know his role until he was seven.

Nick Ferrari spoke to the former Conservative MP to ask his memories of Churchill on the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

And Sir Nicholas spoke of a warm, loving man who enjoyed the company of his family.

He said: "I feel intensive pride and the honour that I knew him - obviously only as a child.

"Rather nicely, I think, I knew him only as grandpa.

"I knew him - as everyone else does who has the fortune of having a living grandfather - I knew him purely as a very affectionate grandfather who liked the company of his children and grandchildren. Up to a point, as long as we didn't make too much noise.

"I had no idea he was anything exceptional until I was about seven or eight.

"I remember going to my youngest brother's christening and getting out of the car when I travelled with him and there were thousands of cheering people there. So I started to gradually learn there was something truly extraordinary about him.

"But to me and my siblings, he was just grandpa and that was it."

As the country now faces another extraordinary battle against coronavirus, Sir Nicholas reflected on how his grandfather would have dealt with the Covid-19 crisis.

"He was tremendously good at invigorating and getting stuff done," he said. "And fighting coronavirus is about getting stuff done and about motivating and leading the people who are doing it.

"And most importantly, trying to bring the nation together."