Mourners from all parts tune in to live coverage
In movie theaters and pubs, on giant screens and smartphones, people watched as Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London flooded the airwaves live across time zones and continents.
In Britain, 125 movie theaters opened their doors to broadcast Monday’s funeral live.
In central Paris, locals mingled with British tourists at The Cricketer pub to catch the ceremony on screens more accustomed to sports coverage. “It’s a historical moment,” said Manchester-area resident Natalie Dotson.
South Africa’s national television broadcaster SABC carried the funeral live as its headline story, even amid rolling electricity cuts across the country. Radio stations also led with news of the procession.
Some of the coverage was accompanied, however, by discussions on the legacy of British colonialism and how — or even whether — the queen’s life should be celebrated in a former British colony such as South Africa.
Spanish national public broadcaster RTVE offered coverage. But what grabbed viewers’ attention was the sight of former King Juan Carlos and his wife, former Queen Sofia, sitting in the church next to Spain’s current king and queen, their son Felipe and his wife, Letizia. The four had not been seen together since before Juan Carlos left Spain in 2020 amid financial scandals.
In the former British colony of Hong Kong, many among the hundreds of mourners who gathered outside the British Consulate watched the broadcast on shared devices.
Tom Fell, 42, a British citizen living in Hong Kong for the past three years, said “to feel the level of grief and loss, but not to be able to be part of it, makes it harder.”