Romilly Weeks: ITV News Political Correspondent, Former Royal Correspondent and Career

Romilly Weeks is one of the most travelled reporters in British television news: an ITV News political correspondent who began her working life as an actress, became a royal correspondent covering five royal tours, was embedded with the British Army in Iraq, reported from Thailand after the 2004 tsunami, and now reports from Westminster. Few broadcasters have moved so completely across the three great beats of television news — royalty, war and politics — and stayed on screen through all of them.

That range is what most competitor pages miss. They list her jobs in a line — actress, newscaster, royal correspondent, political correspondent — without explaining that the through-line is live reporting under pressure, in places where the story cannot be paused and redone.

Quick Bio

From acting to broadcast journalism

Weeks began her career in acting before moving into broadcast journalism, a switch that gave her two skills television news values above almost all others: comfort in front of a camera and the ability to perform live without a safety net. She became a regular newscaster on the ITV News Channel in 2003, at a time when rolling news demanded presenters who could hold a live bulletin through breaking events with little notice.

From 2006 she combined roles as royal correspondent and news presenter for ITV News, and until 2008 she was also an occasional presenter for ITV London. The royal beat in those years was relentless: five royal tours, two weddings and two funerals, plus daily reporting from the High Court during the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. She interviewed Prince Harry, and was broadcasting live on air during Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th wedding anniversary when she was surprised by Prince Philip — a moment that still circulates as a reminder of how unscripted royal reporting can be.

She interrupted maternity leave to report from Westminster Abbey at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, interviewing guests and family friends of Catherine Middleton. It was a decision she has since framed as a statement about combining a family with a demanding career: coming back to work after having children takes a while, she has said, but it is also a moment to think about where you want your career to go. For her, the answer was increasingly clear — Westminster was where the most interesting paths were leading.

War, disaster and the move to politics

Weeks was embedded with the British Army during the Second Gulf War, and was caught up in sniper fire in Basra during the Iraq War — reporting of a kind that tests a correspondent’s nerve as well as their judgement. She reported from Thailand after the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, one of the defining disaster stories of the century, and has presented live from countries including the UK and US, France and Australia, Ukraine and Thailand.

In 2009 she became a News Correspondent, and in 2012 she was promoted to political correspondent — the role she still holds. The move completed a slow repositioning: from the ceremonial and the catastrophic to the daily machinery of Westminster, where the story is rarely a single explosion but a long negotiation, a vote, a resignation, a reshuffle. Her interviewees over the years have ranged from members of the royal family to prime ministers past and present.

Alongside broadcasting, Weeks is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, the charity founded by the then Prince of Wales, and has contributed to national newspapers and magazines and worked as a keynote speaker and event host.

What competitors get wrong or leave out

Most competing pages about Weeks share three weaknesses. First, they treat her as only a royal correspondent or only a political correspondent, when her career is the passage between the two — and through war reporting in between.

Second, they list her foreign assignments without the detail that gives them weight: the Basra sniper fire, the tsunami, the Diana inquest reported daily from court, the five royal tours. Without those, the career reads as a list of titles rather than a record of live reporting.

Third, they miss the through-line of her own account of her career: that the move to Westminster was a deliberate choice after a pause to think, not a default promotion. Weeks’s story is not a straight climb up one ladder; it is a correspondent who kept choosing the hardest live beat available, and finally chose politics.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Romilly Weeks?

An English journalist who is a political correspondent and news presenter for ITV News.

Was she a royal correspondent?

Yes. From 2006 she combined roles as royal correspondent and news presenter for ITV News, covering five royal tours, two weddings and two funerals, and the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

What did she do before journalism?

She began her career as an actress before moving into broadcast journalism.

Did she report from Iraq?

Yes. She was embedded with the British Army during the Second Gulf War and was caught up in sniper fire in Basra during the Iraq War.

When did she become a political correspondent?

In 2012, after becoming a News Correspondent in 2009.

What charity work does she do?

She is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust.

More on Presslix

• Adam Fleming: BBC Newscast Presenter, Former Chief Political Correspondent and Career
• Presslix Journalists & Media

Sources and Further Reading

• Wikipedia: Romilly Weeks — acting start, ITV News Channel 2003, royal correspondent and presenter 2006, News Correspondent 2009, political correspondent 2012, Iraq embedding, Thailand tsunami reporting
• Great British Speakers profile: ITV start 2005 as newscaster and royal correspondent, political correspondent 2012, five royal tours, Basra sniper fire, Prince’s Trust ambassadorship, maternity-leave return for the Cambridge wedding
• Chartwell Speakers Bureau profile: Westminster-based ITV political correspondent, royal correspondent 2006–2009, Diana inquest reporting, past two general elections coverage
• ITV News report: Prince Philip surprise during Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th wedding anniversary live broadcast

Note: career details are from the sources listed. Salary, net worth, height and partner/family details beyond what the cited sources confirm are intentionally not claimed, and no unsourced personal figure is published.