The Queen after taking her seat for the funeral of her husband
(Picture: PA Wire)The Government reportedly offered to ease Covid restrictions for Prince Philip’s funeral, but the Queen turned them down saying it would not be fair to others who had lost loved ones.
Downing Street said it would allow the Palace to have more than 30 mourners, the maximum number allowed at the time, attend the funeral, Private Eye reported.
But the Queen said no to the offer because she wanted to set an example to the nation, according to the magazine.
Instead she sat alone and socially distanced from her family as she mourned her husband of 73 years.
At the time funerals were limited to 30 mourners and wakes to 15 people. There was also a ban on separate households mixing indoors and the rule of six applied to outdoor gatherings.
The prime minister’s official spokesman refused to comment on whether No10 offered to ease restrictions for the Duke’s funeral .
He said: “I simply don’t comment on reports relating to the palace or any conversations we do or do not have with them.
“You’ll know that at the time we said we were working closely with the royal household on arrangements and the plan to take into account public health guidelines, the wishes of the royal household and personal wishes of the Queen.”
The news comes as Downing St this week apologised to the Queen for two parties which were held in Downing Street on April 16 - the evening before the funeral in Windsor.
Civil servants allegedly gathered for two separate events to mark the departures of James Slack as Mr Johnson’s director of communications and one of the Prime Minister’s personal photographers.
The two parties are said to have merged during the evening.
The Telegraph reported that staff were sent to the shop with a suitcase to pick up wine and guests danced to music. Mr Slack, who is now the deputy editor-in-chief of The Sun newspaper, has apologised for the event.
They, along with other lockdown gatherings across Whitehall, are being investigated by senior civil servant Sue Gray.
The Prime Minister said: “I can only renew my apologies both to Her Majesty and to the country for misjudgments that were made, and for which I take full responsibility.”
