Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield returned to This Morning for the first time since they were embroiled in a 'queue jump' row. The pair were last seen on the ITV daytime show on Thursday (September 15) after the programme was cancelled on Friday for coverage of the King's first trip to Wales.
However, the TV duo were seen in Westminster Hall on Friday and were accused of 'jumping the queue' to see the Queen lie in state. Hundreds of thousands of people queued for up to 14 hours to pay their final respects to the late monarch following her death, aged 96, at Balmoral on September 8.
On Monday morning, ahead of the Queen's state funeral, the last mourners paid their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall before the was taken to Westminster Abbey in procession with her children and grandchildren behind her.
However, an outpouring of outrage ensued after Holly, 41, and Phillip, 60, were seen inside Westminster Hall when the likes of fellow ITV star Susanna Reid, who hosts Good Morning Britain, queued for several hours with her 81-year-old mother and former footballer David Beckham spent more than 12 hours waiting to pay his respects among thousands of other mourners.
T his Morning has since hit back at the claims. A statement on the programme’s Instagram account said: “Hello everyone, we would like to clarify something. We asked Phillip and Holly to be part of a film for this Tuesday’s programme. They did not jump the queue, have VIP access or file past the Queen lying in state – but instead were there in a professional capacity as part of the world’s media to report on the event."
Appearing in the ITV studio on Tuesday, Holly and Phillip shared how the latest episode would include coverage of the Queen's historic state funeral following the end of the period of national mourning.
Holly, wearing a black pinafore dress over a white shirt, said: "Hello, good morning and welcome to Tuesday's show. As a new chapter in history begins with the reign of King Charles III, we're taking a look back on the 11 days."
They then introduced a video montage which featured clips of their coverage of the Queen's death, starting from the moment they went off air hours before Her Majesty's death was announced before Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary were seen visiting the floral display at Green Park, where tributes were moved to from Buckingham Palace.
Holly also told viewers: "My children also paid tribute" as the clip of her reading out her three children's letters played out. They soon moved on to the four days of the Queen lying in state and the footage showed how the pair went down to chat to people in the queue.
This then saw the pair explain how they were able to enter Westminster Hall and how they didn't file past the Queen's coffin like those who had queued for hours to pay their final respects. Holly did, however, admit that the presenters "understood the reaction". Holly stressed: "We respected the rules. We realise it may look like something else. Please know we would never jump a queue."
This Morning viewers, however, found the opening of the show 'awkward'. @ellskc said: "Well this is awkward #ThisMorning." @onlysmols wrote: "Holly looks like she wants to slide off that chair and hide under the desk #ThisMorning." @MrJayEllwood93 posted: "Only tuning into #ThisMorning to see the aftermath of this 'Queuegate'."
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