THE BBC has defended coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral after being hit with complaints.
After being hit by complaints about the extent of coverage of Prince Philip's death which led to the suspension of normal programming, the BBC has now been hit with complaints over the coverage of Prince Philip’s funeral after dedicating six hours of its schedule to the service.
The Duke of Edinburgh was buried beneath St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday, April 17, with 11 million people tuning in to watch the coverage, led by broadcaster Huw Edwards, on the BBC alone.
However, despite the huge number of mourners who watched to pay their respects to Philip and Queen Elizabeth – who sat alone throughout the ceremony due to coronavirus restrictions – people felt the need to complain.
The BBC received 110,000 complaints about its coverage on the day of the duke's death, after it cleared its schedules and put mirrored coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and its News Channel.
READ MORE: Prince Philip death: BBC sets up complaints line for 'too much TV coverage'
Now the BBC has said: "We received complaints about our coverage of the funeral of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
"The funeral of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was a significant event which generated a lot of interest both nationally and internationally.
"We do not make such changes without careful consideration and the decisions made reflect the role the BBC plays as the national broadcaster, during moments of national significance.
"We are grateful for all feedback, and we always listen to the response from our audiences."
The complaints about the extent of the coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh's death was the highest number ever published in the UK about television programming and made coverage of Philip's death the most complained-about piece of programming in BBC history.
The MasterChef final, The One Show, Have I Got News For You and The Graham Norton Show were all dropped for programming dedicated to the royal instead. The BBC was forced to set up a complaints board solely for backlash against the level of coverage.
BBC Two did not air coverage of the funeral, instead showing the Snooker World Championship.
BBC4 halted live coverage of the France vs England women's football international and diverted viewers to the BBC iPlayer, where it was available. In its place was a caption, and audio and video of fans cheering.
ITV gave the event three hours' coverage, anchored by Tom Bradby and Julie Etchingham and featuring guests including Philip's goddaughter, India Hicks.
Channel 4 showed episodes of reality show Four In A Bed, while Channel 5 aired the film A Knight's Tale, starring Heath Ledger.
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