Some members of the crowd booed as Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie got out of their car and walked up the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral for the National Thanksgiving Service, although there were also cheers from some onlookers. Watch below:
The crowds' jeers were painfully audible as Johnson ascended the steps of St Paul’s, so much so that a BBC reporter covering the event said: "That's quite a moment."
Reporting live from St Paul’s, the reporter said in full: “Booing in the crowd there. You can hear it, there is really quite a lot of booing. A substantial amount. Didn’t see that coming. That’s quite a moment.”
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Johnson was arriving for the Queen’s national service of thanksgiving, which the monarch herself will not be attending due to experiencing ‘some discomfort’ during Thursday’s platinum jubilee celebrations.
Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Sussexes will be among the royals in attendance.
Johnson’s booing won’t come as much of a surprise seeing as the Prime Minister has been at the centre of the partygate scandal in recent weeks.
Last month, Sue Gray issued a damning verdict on reports of Downing Street parties during the pandemic.
She revealed stories of employees being rude to cleaners and security staff, one person vomiting, two being involved in an altercation and even a karaoke machine being brought in for a sing-along.
Gray's report stated: "The events I investigated were attended by leaders in govt. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen.
"Senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture."
Johnson admitted that he 'briefly attended the gatherings' to praise members of his team for their hard work, and said that the gatherings did carry on afterwards, which was a breach of the rules he had introduced at the time.
He said: "I had no knowledge of those subsequent proceedings as I simply wasn't there."
The prime minister went on: "I take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch.
"I am humbled and I have learned my lesson, Mr Speaker."
Johnson also said that he was 'appalled' and 'shocked' by the treatment of security and cleaning staff, claiming he had 'no knowledge' of those incidents.
However, he went on to defend his team, praising their work on the vaccine rollout.
Johnson said: "Whatever the failing of No 10 and the Cabinet Office throughout this difficult period and my own, I continue to believe the civil servants and advisers... are good, hard working people motivated... to do the very best for our country."
Topics: Boris Johnson
Aisha Nozari