BBC Breakfast’s Rachel Burden and Ben Boulos returned to our TV screens on Sunday (November 30) morning to present the day’s top stories.

BBC Breakfast came to a sudden halt as today’s host shared a heartbreaking 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 update just minutes into the show.

During Sunday’s (November 30) edition of the popular morning show, presenters Rachel Burden and Ben Boulos returned to our TV screens as they presented the day’s latest stories from across the UK and internationally.

However just moments into the program, Rachel announced the 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 of Tom Stoppard as she revealed the Royal Family have been among the first to pay tribute.

The beloved playwright, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Shakespeare In Love, was 88-years-old when he died. Speaking to viewers at home, Rachel said: “The King and Queen have led tributes to the playwright Tom Stoppard, who has died at the age 88.

“They have described him as a ‘dear friend who wore his genius lightly’. Among the awards was an Oscar for the screenplay for the film Shakespeare in Love.”

Rachel shared a sad update minutes into BBC Breakfast (Image: BBC)

The show then cut to a special segment for the star as entertainment correspondent Guy Lambert looked back on Tom’s remarkable life.

Back in the studio, Rachel explained: “Tributes have been pouring in to celebrate the life of Sir Tom Stoppard.” Just before reading out the King and Queen’s full statement, the TV presenter added: “King Charles and Queen Camilla called him a dear friend.”

At the time, a statement from United Agents said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved client and friend, Tom Stoppard, has died peacefully at home in Dorset, surrounded by his family.

“He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language. It was an honour to work with Tom and to know him.”

Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard died age 88 (Image: Reuters)

King Charles said in a tribute: “My wife and I are deeply saddened to learn of the 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 of one of our greatest writers, Sir Tom Stoppard. A dear friend who wore his genius lightly, he could, and did, turn his pen to any subject, challenging, moving and inspiring his audiences, borne from his own personal history.

“We send our most heartfelt sympathy to his beloved family. Let us all take comfort in his immortal line: ‘Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else’.”

Sir Tom’s entertainment career spanned more than six decades, in which he won a host of Tony and Olivier awards, as well as the Golden Globe and Academy Award with Marc Norman for their 1998 screenplay Shakespeare In Love – starring fellow Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow.