STAFF at the office of under-fire British Prime Minister Boris Johnson drank alcohol at two farewell events during lockdown on the eve of Prince Philip’s socially-distanced funeral, The Telegraph reported yesterday.

Advisers and civil servants gathered after work on April 16 last year to mark the departure of James Slack, Johnson’s director of communications, and one of the prime minister’s personal photographers, the paper reported.

Johnson is facing calls to resign over a slew of alleged parties held at his Downing Street office while the country was locked down as part of restrictions to stem the spread of coronavirus.

Eye-witnesses told The Telegraph that alcohol was drunk and guests danced as the gatherings stretched late into the night. 

The events came the day before Queen Elizabeth’s late husband, Prince Philip, was laid to rest, and while the country was in a period of public mourning.

The queen sitting alone in church due to the Covid regulations provided one of the starkest images of the lockdown in Britain. – AFP, January 14, 2022.