By Oyintari Ben
In the UK, an average of 26.2 million viewers watched the Queen’s burial.
Also disclosed is the fact that a sizable crowd of at least 250,000 people waited in line to view the Queen’s coffin as it lay in state for four days in Westminster Hall at Parliament in London.
According to the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) 26.2 million people on average watched the Queen’s burial across all channels.
Several networks, including BBC One, BBC Two, and BBC News; ITV with ITV2, ITV3, and ITV4; Sky News, and Sky Sports, all carried the service at the same time.
At least 250,000 people reportedly joined the lengthy line to view the Queen’s casket, which was on display for four days in Westminster Hall at Parliament in London.
The number was provided by Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan in the morning following the burial of the country’s longest-reigning monarch at Windsor Castle.
Ms. Donelan stated that although her agency was still “crunching the figures,” she thought the amount to be close to 250,000.
In addition to US President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, French President Emmanuel Macron, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, almost 100 presidents and heads of state attended the 2,000-person gathering at Westminster Abbey.
Tens of thousands of mourners travelled to London and Windsor to attend the state burial and to see the coffin being transported to St. George’s Chapel for the Berkshire town’s committal service.
The first television broadcast of the royal coronation was that of the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, which was seen by nearly 27 million people in the UK and millions more worldwide.
The late monarch’s funeral marked the country’s first state funeral since Sir Winston Churchill’s in 1965.