Omid Scobie skipped the queue to view Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin, his new book Endgame reveals.
When Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, the public subsequently lined up for hours to pay their condolences before her casket was placed in Westminster Hall.
The then-hosts of This Morning, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, were among the journalists who were famously accused of skipping the queue as they entered the hall, which ignited controversy.
Although the two have since left the show, they originally explained their actions on TV: “Like hundreds of accredited broadcasters and journalists, we were given official permission to access the hall.
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“The rules were that we would be quickly escorted around the edges to a platform at the back.
“In contrast, those paying respects walked along a carpeted area beside the coffin and were given time to pause.
“None of the broadcasters and journalists there took anyone’s place in the queue and no one filed past the Queen.
“We, of course, respected those rules, however, we realise that it may have looked like something else and therefore totally understand the reaction.
Queen Elizabeth’s funeral took place in September 2022
PA
“Please know that we would never jump a queue.”
Scobie recalled a similar experience during his new royal book, Endgame.
He wrote: “The full reality of Queen Elizabeth II’s death hit me 10 days later when I joined a small group of journalists to observe the scene of the former monarch lying in state at Westminster Hall.
“Members of the public had queued for up to ten miles and over twenty-four hours to pay their respects.
