Diana funeral ‘most watched TV event’

THE FUNERAL of Diana, Princess of Wales, is the most-watched live TV event since current records began, a new survey has found.

Some 31m people in the UK tuned in for the funeral, which took place exactly 20 years ago today on September 6 1997. At the time, it was the biggest-ever audience for a live television event under the modern system of measuring ratings – and nothing since then has topped it.

The closest has been the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics Games, which was watched by 24.6m people. The next biggest audience for a royal event was in 2011 for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which attracted 18.7m viewers.

The figures have been compiled by the Press Association to mark the 20th anniversary of the funeral of Diana. They include only live news and sport events, and not pre-recorded programmes made specifically for TV, such as comedy and drama. Other events with ratings above 20m include the opening ceremony of London 2012 (24.4m), England’s match against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup (23.8m), and Torvill & Dean’s bronze medalwinning performance in the 1994 Winter Olympics (20.7m).

The system of measuring ratings by the audience research organisation Barb, began on August 1 1981. This means that no comparable figure is available for the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana, which took place just a few days earlier on July 29 1981. A previous system of compiling ratings estimated the wedding was watched by a combined audience of just under 22m people.