Veteran Broadcaster, author, television host and producer, Sir David Frost aged 74 died aboard the Queen Elizabeth liner where he was apparently slated to give a speech according to reports from his family. The vessel had left the English port of Southampton on Saturday for a 10-day cruise in the Mediterranean.

Sir David is the only journalist to have interviewed the last 7 President of the United States and the last six Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom.

He gained critical acclaim for his interview series with Richard Nixon in 1977, in which the former United States President apologised for the Watergate scandal when his Republican party staff bugged the opposition Democrats' offices. They achieved the largest audience for a news interview in history.

In a statement to BBC News, Sir David's family said: "His family are devastated and ask for privacy at this difficult time. A family funeral will be held in the near future and details of a memorial service will be announced in due course."

Born on April 7, 1939 to a Methodist preacher, at Tenterden, Kent, he was educated at Gillingham Grammar School, Wellingborough Grammar School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he joined the renowned revue society Footlights and got his first experience doing television for the regional station in Norwich with a programme called Town and Gown.

His big break came when he co-created and hosted satirical show That Was The Week Was in the early 1960s. In more recent times, he had hosted Breakfast with Frost on Sunday mornings (1993-2005) and panel game show Through The Keyhole (1987-2008).

He worked with Al Jazeera English since its launch seven years ago, first with the Frost Over The World programme, and most recently with The Frost Interview show.

Through the years, he was able to create a reputation has one of the best interviewers in the world racking up major Television awards and accolades. He was knighted by the British Queen in 1993 and honoured by the Museum of the Moving Image in New York in 1998 and by the Museum of Broadcasting in New York in 1999. He was the last journalist to interview Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.

David Cameron was quick to send his condolences and tweeted: "My heart goes out to David Frost's family. He could be - and certainly was with me - both a friend and a fearsome interviewer. Other dignitaries and fellow journalist have followed suit in expressing their condolences.