Who actually has time to complain to the BBC about its royal coverage?

A lot of people complained about the BBC’s extensive coverage of Prince Philip’s death. What an entitled, spiteful thing to do, writes Rupert Hawksley

A missed programme is not too much to ask for (AFP)

I don’t honestly know how long it takes to file a complaint to the BBC – but there are obviously many people out there who can tell me. Is it five minutes? 10? Do you have to fill out a form? Do you have nothing better to do?

I only ask because the BBC received a very large number of complaints – we have not been told how many – on Friday and Saturday about the extent of its coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s death. There were so many complaints, in fact, that the BBC set up a dedicated page on its website to process them all.

Now, I can’t be sure, but I strongly suspect the complainants fell broadly into two categories. Those who don’t much like the royal family and can’t understand why the death of one of its leading figures is newsworthy; and those who were irritated that Gardeners’ World was not on. There may even have been some overlap.