BBC presenter Huw Edwards has made a subtle dig at 'superstar VIPs' who allegedly 'jumped the queue' to see Queen Elizabeth II lying-in-state at Westminster Hall.
While hundreds of thousands of people queued for many hours to see their coffin and pay their respects, there was a separate queue for VIPs, with far, far shorter wait times, which some felt was not entirely fair.
Some notable public figures, including former prime minister Theresa May and David Beckham, chose to queue with the public, despite the lengthy wait. Beckham joined the queue at 2am on Friday 16 September and waited nearly 12 hours to enter Westminster Hall, with reports claiming he turned down the offer to use the 'special access' VIP queue.
In his TV commentary in the build up to the Queen's state funeral, Edwards commented: 'We did of course see a certain David Beckham there on Friday. He was widely praised for queueing for hours and hours, not jumping the queue because he’s a superstar VIP.' He added, 'No, he was in the queue for many hours and good for him.'
While Edwards' comments were fairly restrained, some celebrities have been heavily criticised for using the special access queue, with critics claiming they should not have taken advantage of their fame to bypass the public queue. Many took to social media over the weekend to complain about the double standard, calling it 'repugnant'.