Denise Welch believes it was wrong that Her Majesty The Queen was forced to sit alone and be deprived of a 'loving arm' around her at Prince Philip's funeral.
The eyes of the world were on Queen Elizabeth on Saturday as she was one of 30 guests permitted to be at the funeral of her late husband, with the reduced capacity being forced upon the Royal Family by Covid restrictions.
The rules also meant that Her Majesty had to sit alone as she mourned the loss of her other half of 73 years, with the image of her by herself in the quire of St George's Chapel breaking hearts across the globe.
Prince Philip's funeral was the first topic discussed on Monday's Loose Women, with the episode marking a milestone as, for the first time in over a year, all four panellists were allowed to be in the studio together.
Host Charlene White said the picture of The Queen sat on her own at the funeral "represented what so many families have been through," because of the restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
And Hollyoaks actress Denise responded: "I just feel like now, with the vaccinations, and especially with The Queen having both her jabs; it's like when are we going to be able to move things forward?
"I still don't think...," before glancing at co-star Jane Moore and saying: "as you say it may have been protocol, there would have been too much criticism if she'd done something different, but I still think to have a loving arm of somebody around you is something that nobody should be deprived of under any circumstances in my opinion."
Charlene responded by saying that "hopefully" the cap on the number of mourners at funerals will be eased as we go into stage 4 of lockdown restrictions easing on June 21.
She added: "We can look ahead to a situation where we hopefully don't have to do these things solo."
