It has been alleged that This Morning presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield jumped the queue to see the Queen lying in state. Former editor of The Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, made the claim on social media.
He alleged that the pair were allowed in as members of the press. However, earlier Susanna Reid, presenter of Good Morning Britain, had queued with everyone else, alongside her mum.
Former England men's football captain David Beckham also queued, having arrived at 2am. Thousands have already paid their respects, with the queue being temporarily closed earlier due to a 14-hour wait.
Phil and Holly looked sombre as they joined with other mourners to view the late monarch lying in state, having used a different entrance to the general public, designated for members of the press. The pair were preparing to film a segment for Tuesday's episode of their ITV morning show, This Morning, from the scene, reports The Daily Mirror.
Mr MacKenzie slammed the morning TV stars, reports BirminghamLive.
He tweeted: "Have no idea why @Schofe and @hollywills were allowed to jump the five-mile queue to pay their respects. It's said they were allowed in as press.
"Let's be clear: they are not journalists but are in showbusiness. Susanna Reid of Good Morning Britain did queue for seven hours."
The post attracted hundreds of 'likes', with many agreeing with the founder of talkSPORT.
Lyanne Price commented underneath: "Disgusting....as I write this they're interviewing David Beckham who is queueing like everyone else."
Another wrote: "Typical those two. One rule For Them. If that’s what we are calling 'press' nowadays, god help us." While A.Roamer tweeted: "Utterly disgraceful".
An insider explained what the pair were doing as they paid their respects to Her Majesty. "They did not get to pay their respects to the Queen in the same way as queuing members of the public but they filmed in a section put aside for press," a source told Mail Online about Holly and Phil's sombre visit to Westminster Hall.
"This Morning's Friday show has been cancelled in favour of rolling ITV news coverage in the lead-up to the Queen's state funeral. The programme will be back on screens on Tuesday."
To pay your own tribute to Queen Elizabeth, click here .
