10m watch royal funeral in UK

ITV and the BBC used almost 200 TV cameras

Ten million people watched the Queen Mother's funeral live on television in the UK, unofficial overnight figures have revealed.

The BBC, which came under fire for its coverage on the day of the Queen Mother's death, attracted an average of five million viewers for its coverage, peaking at 7.1m viewers.

ITV1's coverage was seen by an average of 2.5m viewers, peaking at 3.3m viewers.

A further 8.8 million watched review programmes on BBC One and ITV1 later in the day.

David Dimbleby presented the BBC's TV coverage

It was the largest outside broadcast in UK television history, and was expected to be seen by up to 300 million people around the world.

For Tuesday's funeral, both BBC One and ITV1 screened live pictures from Westminster, with David Dimbleby hosting the BBC coverage alongside historian Simon Schama.

Mark Byford, who is standing in for BBC director-general Greg Dyke - who is on holiday - said he was very proud of the corporation's programmes, which had "real quality, depth and distinction".

"Our professionalism, skill and outstanding creativity shone through in capturing the events so magnificently for audiences across the country and the world," he said.

"We are gratified that the large majority of viewers turned to the BBC to witness yesterday's historic funeral service."

ITV1's coverage was hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald and included contributions from Dame Vera Lynn.

It was due to end at 1410 BST, but so many networks called the channel that controllers decided to extend the programme by half an hour.

ITV's controller of news, Steve Anderson, said the BBC was expected to attract bigger audiences on such occasions.

But he added: "ITV1's coverage has been confident and sure-footed throughout the last 10 days."

Broadcasting feat

Some schools let their pupils watch proceedings

Princess Diana's funeral was watched by 31 million people - the record for the biggest TV audience ever.

Each broadcaster used about 100 cameras to catch events inside Westminster Abbey, in the crowds outside and along the route that the coffin took.

Westminster Abbey alone had 480 lights and 4.3 miles of cable installed ahead of the service.

On the radio, every local BBC station in England joined two national stations in carrying the funeral live, as did several in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Every BBC station observed a two-minute silence at 1130.

Critics had savaged the BBC's news reports on the day of the Queen Mother's death, with many focussing on the colour of news reader Peter Sissons' tie.

But a survey released on Wednesday found that 64% of the public thought that the BBC's coverage of the death was "about right".

Some 11% said it was disrespectful, while 8% thought it was too respectful, according to Mori.