• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Official TV figures show more people watched Princess Diana's funeral than Queen Elizabeth II's

Home> News

Published 21:55 21 Sep 2022 GMT+1

Official TV figures show more people watched Princess Diana's funeral than Queen Elizabeth II's

The former Princess of Wales attracted millions more viewers in 1997 than the late Monarch.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Official TV figures have revealed more people watched Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 than Queen Elizabeth II's.

The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) said an average of 26.2 million people in the UK turned on the telly to watch the Monarch be laid to rest on Monday (September 19), according to London World.

That includes broadcasts on BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, ITV2, ITV3, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and others.

While that's an impressive number, it doesn't eclipse the viewership record set by the late Princess Diana 25 years ago.

Advert

David Cole / Alamy Stock Photo

It was the most watched Royal TV spectacle since records began in 1981, with 32.1 million tuning in to farewell the former Princess of Wales.

The official most watched TV event was back in 1966 when 32.3 million people watched the FIFA World Cup Final of England v West Germany, according to the MailOnline.

Queen Elizabeth II's funeral TV broadcast viewership numbers failed to beat other modern British moments.

A whopping 27.1 million people tuned into see Boris Johnson's Covid-19 lockdown statement on 23 March 2020 when the pandemic was being formally confirmed.

Advert

The UEFA Euro 2020 final between England and Italy last year in July also managed to attract 29.95 million viewers.

The former Monarch's TV broadcast did eclipse the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics, which had 24.2 million and 24.5 million respectively on BBC One.

However, there's a twist in the TV viewership comparison between Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana.

King Charles III at the casket of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

The Daily Mail said the BBC also recorded millions of viewers on their iPlayer.

Advert

A spokesperson for the corporation said, (via iNews): A spokesperson said: “The majority of the UK public – 32.5 million – turned to BBC coverage of the state funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II."

"Her Majesty the Queen lying in state was streamed 25 million times across BBC online.”

The 26.2 million also doesn't take into account the amount of people who watched Monday's (September 19) funeral procession from the pub or in a public place where large TVs were erected.

Princess Diana's funeral came at a time where the predominant form of watching something was on the television. However, nowadays there are so many different methods to watch something.

BARB is expected to release more figures next week, according to the MailOnline, that will take into account the other ways people watched the Queen's funeral.

Featured Image Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo. David Levenson / Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: The Queen, TV and Film

Stewart Perrie
Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

X

@stewartperrie

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
10 hours ago
  • 9 hours ago

    Donald Trump has been diagnosed with chronic condition after swelling discovered on his legs

    Being president of the USA isn't an easy job...

    News
  • 9 hours ago

    Daredevil Felix Baumgartner who jumped from space in famous Red Bull stunt dies in horror paragliding crash

    Felix Baumgartner died in a paragliding accident in Porto Sant’Elpidio, Italy

    News
  • 10 hours ago

    Man 'waited three hours and was charged $15k' for support as wife suffered fatal heart attack on cruise

    Royal Caribbean has since issued a statement on the tragedy

    News
  • 10 hours ago

    Mum 'almost killed by boob job' after doctors discovered rare type of cancer linked to her scandal-hit brand of implant

    The mum-of-two woke up one day to discover one of her breasts had doubled in size

    News
  • Follow up to The Office is coming to TV incredibly soon
  • Severance season 2 is the best show on TV and more than justifies costing $200 million to make
  • Netflix has viewers raving over '10/10' plane horror watched for more than 50 million hours
  • Countdown contestant reveals why TV show is so much harder than it looks due to 'annoying' hidden feature