Prince Philip's funeral watched by more than 13.6 million in UK

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 18 April 2021

The funeral of Prince Philip is watched by more than 13.6 million viewers in the UK, according to overnight ratings figures.

Coverage of the funeral of Prince Philip averaged more than 13.6 million viewers across multiple channels yesterday, according to overnight figures.

The Duke of Edinburgh died on April 9 and was laid to rest in a ceremony at Windsor Castle, attended in person by just 30 family members and close friends but televised to millions around the world.

Early ratings figures show that in the main hour of the service, between 3pm and 4pm, 10.6 million were watching BBC One's coverage, with a further 2.14 million watching the ITV broadcast.

Sky News had 410,000, with an additional 50,000 watching a simulcast on Sky One, while the BBC coverage also went out on the BBC News channel, which drew in 420,000.

Overall, the BBC's special programme live from Windsor averaged 6.62 million between 12.30pm and 4.20pm.

The impressive audience figures come days after the BBC brushed off complaints that it had been "excessive" with its wall-to-wall coverage of Philip's death.

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