Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, passed away yesterday at the age of 99 and following their tribute schedule to the monarch, the BBC has been flooded with complaints.
The Friday night schedules on BBC One and BBC Two were scrapped entirely in favour of a series of pre-recorded tribute programmes.
This meant that the Masterchef finale and an episode of EastEnders had to be rescheduled.
After being inundated with complaints about the uninterrupted coverage, the BBC set up a dedicated complaints form on its website.
The form read, “Death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh – too much coverage on BBC TV. We’re receiving complaints about too much TV coverage of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
“Please enter your email address below to register a complaint about this – we’ll then send you the BBC’s response as soon as it is available.”
BBC One saw a six per cent decline in their viewership on Friday in comparison to the week before.
BBC Two however was down 65 per cent.
Prince Philip’s death was announced via a statement from Buckingham Palace.
The statement read, “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
“His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”
The Duke of Edinburgh was recently hospitalised back in February where he remained for four weeks.
In 2002 when the Queen’s mother, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, passed away, the BBC was criticised intensely for not dedicating enough coverage and airtime to tributing programmes and mourning.