THE BBC received hundreds of complaints about its special news broadcasts on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s death.
The late monarch passed away on September 8, just months after celebrating her 70th jubilee.
Rumours began to swirl of her ill health after Nadhim Zahawi, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was seen passing notes to the Tory, Labour and SNP frontbenches in the House of Commons.
Just after midday, Buckingham Palace announced that doctors were “concerned” for the Queen’s health, and at 6:30pm that same day her passing was formally announced.
The BBC ran uninterrupted live coverage of the unfolding story throughout the day. A complaints report published on Thursday has revealed that a total of 464 complaints were put in about those news broadcasts.
Some 204 people complained about the broadcast which began in the afternoon, citing an “insensitive” reference to the skyrocketing cost of energy, presenters wearing all black hours before the death of the Queen had been announced, and speculation around her health.
BBC host Clive Myrie was slated on social media after he said that the energy bills crisis was “insignificant” given the “gravity of the situation” regarding the news on the monarch’s health.
And royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell was panned for his “tasteless” comments as he ruminated on whether or not the Queen had cancer, among other things.
A further 260 comments were made to the BBC about its coverage following the announcement of the Queen’s passing.
While it is not subdivided, a portion of those 260 complained it was “disrespectful to see BBC staff in the background of the news room”, while others complained that it was “biased or inappropriate” to include a statement from disgraced former prime minister Boris Johnson.
Reports following the monarch’s passing suggested that she had “loathed” Johnson, who was twice forced to formally apologise to her – once for lying about the legality of proroguing parliament, and once for his staff having partied into the small hours on the same day in which she sat alone at Prince Philip’s funeral due to Covid restrictions.
The BBC also received 269 complaints about its special news broadcast on September 11, which covered the Queen’s coffin being moved to Edinburgh.
Among other issues, viewers complained about an “offensive reference” to Protestant reformer John Knox having “cleared the Catholics out of Scotland”.
The BBC has now apologised for the comment, which presenters laughed at at the time.
