Graham Norton refused ‘queue-jump ticket’ to see Queen lying in state to avoid criticism

Graham Norton revealed he refused to accept “queue-jump ticket” by an MP friend to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state to avoid public criticism.

During chat with Nihal Arthanayake for his BBC Radio 5 Live programme, the talk show host said he was given a chance to avoid standing in long queue to see the late monarch.

However, the Holding author did not accept the offer to save himself from getting it “in the neck” from critics while defending TV presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

“Phil and Holly… The queue. So, as far as I'm concerned, they did nothing wrong. There was a two tier system. You could queue jump!” Norton told Arthanayake.

“Now I got offered a queue jump ticket by a friend of mine – he’s an MP and he said, "Do you want to come?

“I didn't say yes - because I thought if anybody sees me I'll get it in the neck,” The Graham Norton Show host added.

To which Arthanayake suggested, “Optics,” and Norton continued, “Yes and that was what I thought. So I suppose what Phil and Holly got wrong was they thought people wouldn't care.”

“I guess that that's their crime,” he further said, “The actual queue jumping? They did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing wrong.”

“But foolish of them to not think that people would be annoyed,” he added.

This come after the This Morning hosts allegedly skipped the long queue to see Queen’s coffin which attracted severe criticism.