As part of an agreement with news outlets, the royal household was given the right to request that certain parts of the funerals at Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle not be used again. Royal staff sent messages to the BBC, ITV News and Sky News during the event time-stamping the footage they wanted excluded from future news broadcasts and social media clips. As a result, five short video clips featuring members of the royal family were removed from circulation. Although the sections were relatively short, the decision to give the palace a veto over what material could be used has worried some journalists working on the coverage, in the ongoing tension in the British media between the death of a major national personality and allowing news coverage to be shaped by the royal family. The palace provided guidance on what pictures and photos would be considered acceptable, with a specific request to avoid interfering with the grief of individual members of the royal family. Other footage, such as a man hiding in the Queen’s coffin while in Westminster Hall, was also not used by the broadcasters. The unedited ‘as live’ broadcast of the funeral will be allowed to remain on catchup services such as BBC iPlayer for a month. However, according to British broadcaster sources, there will be a negotiation with Buckingham Palace about what parts of the proceedings can be shown after that point. This could give the palace the ability to shape retrospective coverage of the event. Families of recently deceased celebrities often send media requests in advance, seeking to cover their funerals respectfully, with broadcasters careful not to interfere with the grief. However, retroactive vetoes on videos are uncommon. Other news organizations using the broadcast feed had to promise that any social media excerpts generated from the funeral would be “official and dignified.” Another condition was that the material could only be used in news broadcasts and not in entertainment broadcasts. Restrictions were also imposed on where funeral proceedings could be broadcast, including not allowing parts of the celebrations to be broadcast on online video platforms such as TikTok. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The broadcast of the Queen’s funeral was one of the biggest partnerships in British television history, with a peak audience of almost 30 million viewers. The BBC joined forces with ITV and Sky News to provide several cameras and broadcast equipment as the Queen’s coffin made its final journey from Westminster to Windsor. The day’s coverage was coordinated by BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial broadcasting arm, rather than its news arm. Broadcasters largely left wider constitutional issues about the future of the monarchy out of their coverage. Dermot Murnaghan, who presented Sky News’ coverage of the funeral, told the Guardian that “the proper order of funerals is to maintain respect” and that there would be an opportunity to consider such matters in the future.
