Who is former BBC presenter Huw Edwards?

Edwards, who joined the BBC in 1984, is one of the UK's most high-profile broadcasters

One of the UK's most high-profile broadcasters, news presenter Huw Edwards has resigned from the BBC on "medical advice".

The presenter had been off air since July last year when he was named as the star at the centre of an explicit photo row.

Edwards had been the BBC's first choice to front coverage of major national events, a reflection of how well-regarded he was by the corporation.

Trusted by viewers, he built a reputation over decades as a reliable and calming presence on screen.

On his last day on air for BBC News before the scandal broke, Edwards broadcast from Edinburgh as Scotland prepared to greet King Charles.

Less than a week later, the 62-year-old's broadcasting career was in jeopardy after his wife issued a statement naming him as the BBC presenter facing a series of damaging allegations.

He joined BBC News as a trainee in 1984 and he eventually secured a job as political reporter for BBC Wales. Just two years later, he became BBC Wales's parliamentary correspondent.

By the early 1990s he was the BBC's chief political correspondent at Westminster.

He became a regular face on the BBC News channel, then called BBC News 24, after it launched in 1997.

Edwards became one of the main anchors on the Six O'Clock News in 1999

In its early days, the channel was plagued by technical difficulties, but Edwards' confident and level-headed performance in challenging circumstances was said to have impressed BBC bosses.

At about the same time, Edwards was working as an occasional cover presenter on BBC One's Six O'Clock News, one of the most-viewed television news bulletins in the UK, and became one of the programme's main anchors in 1999.

Four years later, he was promoted to the Ten O'Clock News, widely seen as the BBC's flagship bulletin, and was increasingly asked to present and commentate on major national events for the BBC.

They included the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (as they were known at the time) in 2011, the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh (2021), the Queen's Diamond and Platinum Jubilee (2012 and 2022) and the coronation of King Charles (2023).

He was also on air when Nelson Mandela died in 2013, and co-hosted the results of the Brexit referendum in 2016.

But perhaps the biggest single moment in Edwards' long presenting career came in September 2022, when he announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

He had started his shift early that day following rumours of the Queen's declining health, presenting rolling news coverage from 1400 before confirming the Monarch's death to the nation that evening while wearing a black tie.

He went on to front coverage of the late Queen's funeral. He was widely praised by viewers, and the coverage won Edwards and his colleagues a TRIC award, presented last month.

Edwards had presented the flagship News at Ten bulletin for the previous 20 years

As well as major royal events, Edwards had recently become the face of the BBC's general election coverage.

The Welsh broadcaster was one of the BBC's top earners. In 2017, the first year the BBC was compelled by Parliament to publish the salaries of its star presenters, it was revealed Edwards made £550,000.

Following a flurry of negative headlines about the amount of money the BBC spent on top talent, and the disparity between some of its male and female stars, Edwards took a pay cut, and in 2023 his salary stood at £435,000.

Edwards made a cameo appearance as himself in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, presenting a BBC News report on a fictionalised attack on the British intelligence service MI6.

In an interview with BBC Radio Cymru in 2021, Edwards indicated he may not have many years left as the corporation's chief news anchor due to the demands of the role.

"The nightly news business, after 20 years, that can be taxing, even though I still enjoy the job," he said. "But I don't think I'll be doing that for long… I think it's fair for the viewers to get a change."

Edwards was named as the BBC presenter at the centre of allegations by his wife Vicky Flind

In the same year, Edwards made a Welsh-language documentary about his career, during which he revealed he had suffered bouts of depression over 20 years, and had been left "bedridden" by his struggle with his mental health.

A distinguished career at the BBC was ultimately brought to an end after the Sun published allegations last summer that an unnamed BBC presenter had paid large sums of money for explicit images of an individual.

There were days of speculation about who the presenter might be and over the following days, the Sun, and later BBC News, released further allegations, keeping the story in the headlines.

Finally, on 13 July 2023, Edwards' wife Vicky Flind confirmed his identity on his behalf, saying she was doing so "primarily out of concern for his mental well-being" and to protect their five children.

"Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues," she said. "The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he'll stay for the foreseeable future."

"Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published."

Edwards has not publicly commented as yet.