Sir Alastair Burnet Leaves a Generous Endowment to Dear Friend Diana Edwards-Jones

Sir Alastair Burnet, the veteran British broadcaster reportedly left £100,000 to a valued friend, Diana Edwards-Jones, the former director of ITN. Lady Burnet, Sir Alastair’s widow confirmed that a generous sum was left to her husband’s dear friend who was constantly paying him a visit when he was ill, helping him cope with the difficulties of dementia which assailed the news anchor in the last eight years of his life. Lady Burnet confirmed that Diana got the money because she was a dear friend to Sir Alastair. The tax-free endowment came from Sir Alastair’s estate worth £2 million.

More than half of the estate was left to Sir Alastair’s wife of many years. The couple had chosen to remain married though the two led separate private lives. They had a very civilized arrangement, according to friends. Sir Alastair and Lady Burnet had no children.

Friends and colleagues

Sir Alastair’s close personal friends were not that many, according to his widow. But Diana Edwards-Jones sat and conversed with him. Aside from being a true friend, the former ITN director even gave Sir Alastair career opportunities at his advanced age by organizing programming for ITN. Edwards-Jones is one of the few friends who helped him in his eight-year battle with dementia.

The long battle with dementia

Sir Alistair suffered from dementia, a debilitating illness. In the last few years of his life, Sir Alastair was comfortable only in the company of friends and family. The reason for this was that the former broadcaster could not hold conversations long. And so he preferred an exclusive company whom he was comfortable with and has the capability to support him in his illness.

Sir Alastair Burnet was born in Yorkshire. He became famous for serving as the anchor of ITN’s flagship news program, News at Ten. He was the host when the program was launched in 1967. News at Ten started out as a dynamic nightly news bulletin and evolved to become an authoritative source of news as well as a national institution that was forevermore tied to Sir Alastair’s name. Burnet passed away in 2012 at aged 84. The cause of death was a series of strokes.

News at Ten

Burnet was also an associate editor of News at Ten and also served as the member of the ITN Board. He dominated the show with his personality and “rather different” sense of humor. He worked tirelessly and wrote a huge part of the script himself. He was a professional, and during instances when satellite feeds went down he managed to ad lib about the imminent story very knowledgably. He usually maintained a sardonic tone and was well-known for his Conservative stance on issues. He commanded respect and got it from colleagues and viewers as well.

Burnet eventually came into clashes and conflicts within the ITN family and he eventually resigned from the ITN Board in February of 1990. He then resigned as news presenter in 1991 just 18 months short of the end of his contract.