TV news veteran Brian Hanrahan leaves £500k legacy

By MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER
Updated: 18:48 EST, 7 May 2011

Veteran BBC correspondent Brian Hanrahan – best known for his coverage of the Falklands War – left £495,950 in his will.

Mr Hanrahan died aged 61 in December after battling cancer.

The reporter made a name for himself when he counted Sea Harrier jets as they returned safely to the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes in the 1982 conflict.

Long career: BBC journalist Brian Hanrahan died at the age of 61

Hanrahan, who was on the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, was barred from reporting how many of Britain’s Harrier jets were involved in a raid on Port Stanley, but he still managed to reassure audiences that they had completed the mission without loss.

He got round MoD reporting restrictions by saying: ‘I’m not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid but I counted them all out and I counted them all back.’

In a long, successful career on screen he also covered the Tiananmen Square massacre, the fall of the Berlin Wall, D-Day anniversaries and the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales and the Queen Mother.

Mr Hanrahan left his estate to his wife, Honor. They had a daughter, Catherine.

Respected: Brian Hanrahan reported on major news stories including the Falklands War and the fall of the Berlin Wall