Holly Willoughby steps in as Feltz and Wright clash

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Harry Herbert, who is the 7th Earl of Carnarvon and who calls Highclere Castle Estate – where Downton Abbey is filmed – home has publicly said that the treatment of Holly, 41, and Phil, 60, has been “awful”. The Earl, who is married to This Morning regular chef Clodagh McKenna, most recently expressed his disgust at how the two presenters have been treated by the public.

This comes shortly after Holly and Phil were accused of jumping the queue in order to see the Queen lying in state.

Despite the pair having since issued a statement saying the claim was untrue and in fact they were granted press access to film a segment which didn’t include skipping the line, Holly and Phil were the targets of criticism from the public.

There has even been a petition, signed by 70,000 individuals, calling for the presenters to be axed from This Morning in wake of the backlash.

Now, Harry is the latest to publicly support the presenters, saying in an interview that “they never jumped any queue”.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Harry added: “Awful what they are going through.”

Having appeared on This Morning in the past, Harry explained his personal link with the late monarch.

His father Henry Herbert was a personal friend of Queen Elizabeth II for more than 20 years, and the monarch used to regularly visit their family home.

Given the title Lord Porchester, Henry was known affectionately to the Queen as “Porchey”, and was her racing horse manager for many years until his death in 2001 at the age of 77.

As Henry’s son, and the Queen’s godson, Harry was appointed the CEO of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing and of The Royal Ascot Racing Club and coordinator of The Cartier Racing Awards after his father’s death.

Sharing personal insight into his father’s relationship with the Queen, Harry went on to say that he has memories of the monarch ever since he was young.

Harry said: “My dad was her best friend for many years and confidant and so myself my sister Carol and my brother Geordie, we grew up knowing the Queen from a young age.

“We were surrounded by her, every part of her, her character, and she came to stay often at Milford which was my family home.”

In order to try and defuse the anger towards Holly and Phil, a statement on the Instagram of This Morning was posted, to “clarify” the situation.

The statement read: “Hello everyone, we would like to clarify something. We asked Phillip and Holly to be part of a film for this Tuesday’s programme.

“They did not jump the queue, have VIP access or file past the Queen lying in state – but instead were there in a professional capacity as part of the world’s media to report on the event.”

In addition both Holly and Phil have not posted anything on their social media accounts following nasty comments being left on Holly’s post, which showed her children paying their respects to the Queen outside Buckingham Palace.

The MailOnline reported that since backlash began, concerns for their wellbeing have been questioned.

In the first episode of the show since the row unfolded, Holly and Phil, strongly denied viewers’ claims they were “too posh to queue” and said they had been in Westminster Hall on Friday “strictly for the purpose of reporting on the event”.

The voiceover also hammered home the point: “Please know that we would never jump a queue.”

ITV remain in full support of the pair, saying that they did not join mourners in filing past the coffin.

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