Regular airing of The One Show was axed on Friday evening to make way for a special episode featuring Queen Camilla - and fans were not impressed.

Hosts Roman Kemp and Alex Jones presented the BBC One programme from Windsor Castle. They presented the final of the 2026 500 Words writing competition with Her Majesty the Queen awarding the deserving winners with medals. The special programme saw performances from Paddington the Musical and West End Legend Marisha Wallace. Celebrities Jodie Whittaker, Big Zuu and Bradley and Barney Walsh also helped to reveal the winning stories. While it was a pretty wholesome evening, fans at home seemed to be unimpressed. When it came to an end after 45 minutes, one fan took to X (Twitter) to say: "Glad that's done. Which just leaves me with quarter of an hour of 1999 on #TOTP. #TheOneShow." Another jibed at the BBC as they wrote: "Well, that was a complete box-ticking exercise .that was a compete box ticking exercise. Well done [laughing face emoji] #TheOneShow."

Others complained that the show was just a "box tick" for the BBC, as one moaned: "#theoneshow basically these are kids that have written a story in a school exercise book.

"We've all done that. Funny how they've ticked every bloody box on planet earth in this show. There was only one box to tick in my class."

Another joked about Camilla's participation in the award ceremony. They penned: "Good of Camilla to turn up on #TheOneShow to present the prize for kids' best (very) short story.

"To cut a story short, she said her bit, turned on her heel and was gone. By the time dear Alex Jones had finished thanking her, she was nowhere to seen. No manners those royals!"

Meanwhile, speaking ahead of World Book Day earlier this week, presenter Alex shared that her "12-year old self would be very surprised about my chosen career path".

She said: "I had great teachers in school who took the time to really see me, not just as another pupil, but as a young person with something to say.

Their patience and belief helped me feel capable and that's why I'm so passionate about literacy support. When a child struggles with reading, it can chip away their confidence."

She continued: "It's not an easy problem to fix and we can't just expect overstretched schools to be doing more, we have to collectively make an effort to support the children who are falling behind.

"The literacy gap deserves more attention, and it's encouraging that people are committed to changing children's stories for the better."