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The staff at 10 Downing Street held two parties that lasted until the wee hours before the Funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on a day when the country was in mourning and the Queen of England, Elizabeth II, was forced to go alone to the funeral at Windsor Castle due to health measures against Covid-19.
According to ‘The Telegraph’, while the flags were at half-staff on government buildings in Westminster, advisors and public officialss met until the early hours of the morning in two separate events, which came together at the end of the night, hours before the funeral was held in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
One of the parties was caused by the farewell of the government spokesman, James Slack, who was leaving Downing Street to join the staff of the newspaper ‘The Sun’, while the other, apparently, would have been organized by one of the personal photographers of the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Several witnesses allege that large amounts of alcohol were drunk and dances were held without a safety distance, although, according to a spokesman for number 10 who has spoken with ‘The Telegraph’, Johnson he was not in london that day, since he had gone to his country house in Checkers. The two celebrations were held, firstly, in different areas of the building, although as the night progressed they gathered in the gardens. About 30 people attended both meetings combined.
That day, Slack finished work for the last time in Downing Street, stood up and thanked a group of advisers and press assistants in a farewell speech. Later the party would have been celebrated, in which several witnesses assure that he drank a lot of alcoholl.
At the second party, in honor of the photographer who was leaving, attended younger members staff and held for much of the night in the basement of number 10. The room below the main office suite on the ground floor had limited ventilation.
A person who attended the meeting, who has chosen to remain anonymous, explained that an entire suitcase was filled with bottles of wine after buying all the material on a busy street near Downing Street. «Too much wine was spilled on the carpet in the basement of number 10«, said one of the attendees. Hours after the party and with the country in the midst of pandemic restrictions, which prohibited indoor gatherings, the British royal family moved to the private chapel to watch over the death of Prince Philip.
Due to strict sanitary measures, Elizabeth II, who wore a black mask, sat alone on the benches in the chapel. What’s more, “to reduce the risk of transmission« of the virus, an online book of condolences was created and the attendees – only 30 – were informed that they would not be able to leave flowers at the grave.
www.abc.es
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism