Half the planet will watch on TV
THE funeral is expected to become the biggest live event in TV history, with billions expected to tune in from around the globe on Monday.
Experts predict 4.1billion will switch on as broadcasters across the world clear schedules to provide live coverage of the state funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Thanks to advances in technology, the global audience figures are expected to eclipse the estimated 2.5billion that watched the service for Princess Diana 25 years ago.
Carolina Beltramo, TV analyst at WatchTVAbroad.com, said: ‘Generations of people across the globe won’t have been alive the last time pomp and pageantry were seen on this scale.
‘While it’s a sad occasion, they can be forgiven for being enthralled by a spectacle that echoes throughout history.
‘ No fewer than 4.1billion people are expected to tune in – half the people on planet Earth.’
She said most of us now ‘carry TVs around in our pockets’, referring to mobile phones.
This meant numbers were likely to exceed one of the biggest ever TV events – the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics when 3.6billion watched Muhammad Ali light the Olympic torch, she added.
Millions across the UK and Commonwealth realms have been given a holiday on Monday so they can watch as the monarch is finally laid to rest ten days after her death.
In the UK, large screens are expected to be erected in towns and cities across the country, while cinemas will open on Monday to show the funeral of Britain’s longestreigning monarch for free.