Entertainment
How many people watched Prince Philip’s funeral?
Prince Philip’s funeral took place on Saturday after Buckingham Palace announced on April 9 that the Duke Of Edinburgh had died aged 99.
The ceremony, which took place took place in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, was broadcast on ITV and BBC and reflected the late Prince’s lifelong support of the armed forces.
The Queen was forced to mourn alone away from her family due to coronavirus restrictions and looked grief-stricken as she kept her head bowed.
The monarch left a handwritten note for Prince Philip on his coffin as she bid a final farewell to her husband of 73 years.
How many people watched Prince Philip’s funeral?
Prince Philip’s funeral was watched by a peak audience of more than 13million people on the BBC and ITV combined.
BBC journalist Lizo Mzimba reported that the BBC raked in 10.6million viewers, while ITV had 2.14million.
Meanwhile, Sky One had 0.05million people tuning in to its coverage, with Sky News and the BBC News channel attracting around the 0.4million mark.
For comparison, the Queen mother’s funeral was seen by a peak of 10.4million viewers in 2002 and Princess Diana’s funeral was watched by around 32million in 1997.
Earlier this week, the BBC was hit with a record number of complaints as a result of its coverage of Prince Philip’s death.
Almost 110,000 people complained about the amount of reporting, with the corporation being forced to open a complaints form on its site specifically concerning ‘too much Prince Philip ‘attention.
Responding to the backlash, the BBC said in a statement: ‘We received complaints about our coverage of the passing of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
‘The passing of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was a significant event which generated a lot of interest both nationally and internationally.
‘We acknowledge some viewers were unhappy with the level of coverage given, and impact this had on the billed TV and Radio schedules.
‘We do not make such changes without careful consideration and the decisions made reflect the role the BBC plays as the national broadcaster, during moments of national significance.
‘We are grateful for all feedback, and we always listen to the response from our audiences.’
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Prince Philip funeral: Key details
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh passed away on Friday April 9, just two months shy of his 100th birthday.
Today, the Duke was interred in the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel – where he will remain until his wife of 73 years dies, whereupon they will be buried together.
Although well-wishers were urged to not line the streets of Windsor, they could watch the ceremony on TV.
Here are the key details:
