Downing Avenue supplied the Queen a Covid exemption for Prince Philip’s funeral to permit extra mourners to attend however she stated no as a result of she needed to set an instance to the nation, it was claimed right this moment.
Quantity 10 supplied to quickly elevate among the Covid guidelines in place on the time of the funeral on April 17, 2021, in keeping with Personal Eye journal.
However the provide was rejected by the Queen because the funeral went forward with strict limits on the quantity of people that might attend.
The Queen sat alone – socially distanced from her household – as she mourned her husband.
Quantity 10 apparently contacted Buckingham Palace after the Duke of Edinburgh died on April 9 to make the provide.
Two social occasions have been then held in Downing Avenue simply seven days afterward the eve of the funeral.
The newest claims pile extra stress on Boris Johnson over the Partygate row after he publicly apologised to the Queen earlier this week.
Downing Avenue supplied the Queen a Covid exemption for Prince Philip’s funeral to permit extra mourners to attend however she stated no as a result of she needed to set an instance to the nation, it was claimed right this moment
The claims pile extra stress on Boris Johnson over the Partygate row after he publicly apologised to the Queen earlier this week over social occasions in Downing Avenue on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral
England was in step two of Mr Johnson’s lockdown exit roadmap on the time of the funeral.
That meant funerals have been allowed to have as much as 30 attendees whereas wakes have been restricted to fifteen folks.
There was additionally a ban on non-household socialising indoors whereas the rule of six utilized to out of doors gatherings.
Two events have been held in Quantity 10 on April 16, 2021, because the nation was in a interval of mourning after the dying of the Duke.
The Prime Minister, who was at Chequers on the time of the events, apologised to the Queen on Tuesday this week as he appeared emotional when he was requested in regards to the incidents.
He might be heard respiratory closely behind his face masks when requested for his response to the occasions.
‘I deeply and bitterly remorse that that occurred,’ he stated.
Downing Avenue had beforehand confirmed that an apology had been supplied to Buckingham Palace after the events got here to mild, however that was delivered by officers.
Mr Johnson publicly apologised to the Queen as he confronted the cameras at Finchley Memorial Hospital in north London.
He stated: ‘I can solely renew my apologies each to Her Majesty and to the nation for misjudgments that have been made, and for which I take full accountability.’
The Telegraph reported that advisers and civil servants gathered after work for 2 separate occasions on April 16, 2021.
The occasions have been to mark the departures of James Slack as Mr Johnson’s director of communications and in addition one of many Prime Minister’s private photographers.
The 2 occasions are stated to have began individually and later merged.
The newspaper reported accounts from witnesses who stated alcohol was drunk and visitors danced to music, with an individual despatched to a neighborhood store with a suitcase to purchase wine. Mr Slack, now the deputy editor-in-chief of The Solar, has apologised.
Downing Avenue has been contacted for remark over the declare it supplied the Queen a Covid exemption for the funeral.
