The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is likely to attract one of the largest UK television audiences of recent decades. A benchmark for comparison is the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales on September 6, 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.
No royal event since then has come close to matching such huge ratings. The wedding on April 29, 2011 of Prince William and Kate Middleton attracted an average audience of 13.6 million on BBC One and 4.0 million on ITV. Coverage of the funeral of the Queen Mother on April 9, 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 April 17, 2021 – more than twice the number for ITV. Ratings data is published by the audience research organisation, Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (Barb).
