59% of Britain watch funeral

A record 31.5 million people across Britain tuned in to watch the funeral. Initial reports, compiled by the British Audience Research Bureau, showed that 59 per cent of the nation was watching the historic event on television. TV bosses said it was the biggest audience for a single televised event. The figures easily eclipsed the estimated audience of 22 million which watched BBC and ITV's coverage of the 1981 wedding of Charles and Diana. The viewing figures also eclipse those for Lord Mountbatten's funeral (15 million) as well as Winston Churchill's (19 million).