Today, 19 September, sees the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II take place at Westminster Abbey. At 10:44 am, the coffin will be transported from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, marking the start of proceedings.
READ: The Queen's state funeral: A minute-by-minute guide about what will happen
The Queen's funeral will be broadcast on ITV, BBC and Sky. ITV has confirmed it will run live, uninterrupted coverage of the Queen’s state funeral from 9:30 am. The coverage will be preceded by a preview on Good Morning Britain and followed by a documentary chronicling the lead-up to the event. A special programme focusing on the funeral will follow, as well as an extended News At Ten.
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The funeral will be shown on ITV's main channel, the broadcaster's five digital channels online on the ITV Hub. The broadcaster has also confirmed no adverts will be shown on the day.
READ: Prince William and Princess Kate's children's special place for mourning the Queen at school
The BBC will be showing special programming on the day of the funeral, which will air from 8 am until 5 pm on Monday 19 September on BBC One and iPlayer, with BSL signed coverage on BBC Two. Huw Edwards, Kirsty Young and David Dimbleby are among the broadcasters leading BBC coverage of the Queen’s funeral, the corporation has announced.
Sky News has confirmed its broadcast schedule for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II too, with live coverage throughout the day available for free on Sky News and the Sky News App, YouTube and on Freeview. The channel will broadcast the funeral procession, followed by coverage of the State Funeral Service.
© Photo: Getty ImagesITV will show Queen Elizabeth II's funeral with no ad breaks
The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is likely to attract one of the largest UK television audiences in recent decades.
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A benchmark for comparison is the funeral service for Princess Diana on 6 September 1997, which was watched by an average of 32.1 million people, including 19.3 million on BBC One and 11.7 million on ITV.
© Photo: Getty ImagesHer Majesty's funeral is set to be one of the most-watched TV shows ever
No royal event since then has come close to matching such huge ratings. Coverage of the funeral of the Queen Mother on 9 April 2002 – a working day – was seen by an average of 5.1 million people on BBC One, while 2.7 million chose ITV.
More recently, an average of 6.8 million watched BBC One’s coverage of the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh on 17 April 2021 – more than twice the number for ITV.
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