Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was reportedly watched by a peak of 37.5 million people in the UK.
According to the BBC, the majority of that number – 32.5 million – watched the state funeral on the BBC, with viewers peaking at 22.4 million across all BBC channels.
The funeral was broadcast on more than 50 UK channels, including ITV and Sky, with Deadline reporting the overall number of 37.5m.
The figures, which account for half the UK’s population, mark the biggest audience for a UK broadcast in history, and surpass the numbers of Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997, which peaked at around 30 million – however, it should be noted that the latest figures include more than just the traditional TV broadcast.
It was revealed yesterday that TV coverage of the funeral received a peak audience of 19.5 million on BBC One and an average of 12.9 million on the channel, with 1.22 million watching on BBC Two and 3.5 million on ITV.
But it wasn’t just people in the UK who tuned in for the Queen’s farewell, as Deadline estimates the global viewing figure at around 4 billion.
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The BBC revealed that Monday was one of its biggest viewing days since the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony, with royal content between 8th and 19th September reaching more than 90 per cent of the UK. The broadcaster also revealed the Queen’s lying-in-state was streamed 25 million times across BBC online.
The Queen died at the age of 96 on Thursday 8th September while at Balmoral Castle after 70 years on the throne – making her the longest-ruling monarch in the UK. The royal family, including King Charles III, Prince William, now Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, travelled to Scotland ahead of the announcement of the Queen’s death.
In the wake of her passing, broadcasters across the UK made changes to their schedule to accommodate for special programming and coverage to the lying-in-state, which included the coffin’s journey from Balmoral Castle to Westminster Abbey, where the funeral took place.
The Queen’s funeral took place on Monday 19th September, with the service beginning at 11am. A two-minute silence marked the end of service, which was followed by a procession through London before the coffin was transported to Windsor.
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