‘Have we got the priorities right?’: Susanna Reid questions Queen sitting alone at funeral with pubs reopening

‘Everybody’s heart broke when we saw the Queen on her own,’ said the GMB host

Queen Elizabeth is seen during the funeral of Prince Philip, her husband, who died at the age of 99 earlier this month (REUTERS)

Susanna Reid has questioned why the Queen had to sit alone during Prince Philip’s funeral on Saturday, as restaurants and pubs reopened for outdoor dining.

All funeral guests were required to sit away from other households due to Covid restrictions, but as the Queen had no family members – other than Prince Philip – in her bubble, this resulted in her sitting alone.

On Monday, the Good Morning Britain host said: “Everybody’s heart broke when we saw the Queen on her own.

“And I think a lot of people wonder now when you’ve got everything opening up, and you’ve got a huge cavernous place like the chapel at Windsor, why does the Queen have to be alone and not comforted or at least have someone there a metre away to be with her?”

Dr Hilary Jones responded by saying that the Queen did travel with a lady-in-waiting in the car on the way to the chapel – part of the Windsor household staff deemed “HMS Bubble”.

But he added that the Queen “may [have chosen] to be quietly alone at that moment.”

He continued: “When we see those scenes in London [this was the first weekend of hospitality being reopened], things are opening up but we should stress that it’s with the advice of taking precautions, of keeping your distance, of washing your hands, of wearing masks.

“And of course a lot of people weren’t doing that, people think it’s all over, and as things open up they were taking liberties in terms of taking risks.”

Reid continued: “Seeing the Queen there on her own compared to those scenes of hospitality people think – hang on a moment have we got the priorities right here?”

Buckingham Palace confirmed prior to the funeral that all households would sit apart and that all guests would be wearing face coverings in line with Covid restrictions.

There were 30 guests at the ceremony in St George’s Chapel, including Prince Harry who had flown in from Los Angeles and isolated at Frogmore Cottage prior to the event.

His wife, Meghan Markle, was unable to make the trip due to her pregnancy.