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Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (September 11 to 17, 2022)
editPrepared with commentary by SSSB, Igordebraga, YttriumShrew and an anonymous editor
This report continues where the previous one left off. The late Elizabeth II and her surviving relatives continue to dominate the report, with only six articles here unrelated to the British royal family. High on the list of the late Queen's relations is Charles III, the new British monarch, and his close relations. This report is also notable for including every British monarch from 1837 to the present date, and if the heir to the throne lives as long as his granny, we are looking at 240 years' worth of British monarchs on this week's list.
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes/about 1 Elizabeth II 
6,224,957 
Following her death, the wall-to-wall news coverage has been turned down somewhat with some normal scheduling returning to British TV, although news relating to the Queen's death is still discussed frequently on British TV, including live coverage of people paying respects to her at her lying in state at Westminster Hall, as well as live footage of The Queue, which has become a British phenomenon. But, before we look to the week ahead following her upcoming state funeral, let's take a look back. On September 11, the Queen left Balmoral on the way to Edinburgh, where she stayed for two nights, the first at Holyroodhouse, and the second lying-in-state at St Giles' Cathedral, where 33,000 people filed past to pay their respect, and the Queen's children (#2, 6, 12 and 15) held a Vigil of the Princes. On September 13, the Queen was flown from Edinburgh to London, which became the most tracked flight in history. Since September 14, the Queen has been lying in state at Westminster Hall (leading to The Queue phenomenon), and will remain there until 6:30 BST on Monday, the day of her funeral. While there, both her children and grandchildren have performed the Vigil of the Princes.
On the day of the funeral itself, the Queen's coffin will leave Westminster Hall at 10:44 with the funeral service being held at 11:00, a two-minute silence will be held at the end of the funeral, with several major airports even suspending flights during this period. The Queen will then be taken to Windsor, arriving at 15:10, with a second service happening at 16:00 at St George's Chapel, ending at 16:45. It won't be till 19:45, during a private family service, when the Queen will be buried alongside her husband (#7).
2 Charles III 
4,139,056 
After waiting 70 years to be King, Charles, the first child of #1 and elder brother of #6, #12, and #15, has become the King of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms, and is expected to be crowned sometime next year. Alongside the rest of his family, he's had a rough week, but has already exceeded the reign of the nine-day Queen (although this has often been disputed). 3 George VI
2,670,912 
#1's father and the previous King, born in 1895, and King from 1936 to 1952. 4 Diana, Princess of Wales
2,584,814 
#2's first wife. Her funeral, in 1997, holds the viewing figure record within the UK, at 32.1 million people (nearly 55% of the population at the time). The Queen's funeral is widely expected to beat this. 5 Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva 
2,502,254 
This Bollywood film is again the only thing preventing a top-ten monopoly for the British royals, which I imagine Indian readers will find rather amusing. Ayan Mukerji's attempt to replicate the MCU in India has gotten off to an okay start, although still faces a daunting task to recoup its massive budget. 6 Anne, Princess Royal
2,151,398 
The Queen's second child and only daughter. 7 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
1,811,670 
Described as the love of her life, Prince Philip was Queen Elizabeth II's husband, the father of the new King, and the longest-serving royal consort in history. Philip and Elizabeth were married from 1947 until Philip's death in 2021, a year prior to Elizabeth's death. 8 William, Prince of Wales
1,800,986 
The oldest child of the new King, which makes him the heir-apparent. He also received a promotion to Prince of Wales, a title held by his father until his accession. 9 Edward VIII
1,774,375 
The Queen's uncle, who was King for 11 months in 1936. He abdicated his position in order to marry Wallis Simpson, nicknamed the abdication crisis. The Duke of Windsor, as he was known after his abdication, served his life in de facto exile in France until his death in 1972. 10 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
1,766,856 
The Queen's younger sister, who died in 2002. 11 Camilla, Queen Consort
1,641,462 
The new King's second and current wife. 12 Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar
1,606,113 
The late Queen's fourth and youngest child, and the younger brother of The King. 13 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
1,549,603 
This one is self-explanatory. She died in 2002, seven weeks after her younger daughter (#10). 14 George V
1,485,751 
The Queen's grandfather, King from 1910-1936. 15 Prince Andrew, Duke of York
1,465,375 
The Queen's third child, a younger brother of The King, and the final one of the Queen's children to appear on this list. He was removed from working life following the revelation over his relationship with that dodgy American financier, the controversial interview Andrew gave about it, and Andrew's subsequent lawsuit. Some people were arrested for disturbing the peace after protesting against him at several official events relating to the death of (#1) that he attended alongside his brothers (#2, #12) and sister (#6). Outside of his often-discussed scandals, Andrew has (like the rest of the family) paid tribute to the Queen, praising his mother's compassion, care and confidence, which he "will treasure forever". 16 Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
1,425,205 
The second and final child of the new King, who retired from royal duties in 2020 alongside his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. 17 Queen Victoria
1,285,484 
The Queen's great-great-grandmother, Queen from 1837-1901. She holds the record for the second longest British reign, only beaten by #1. 18 House of the Dragon 
1,238,129 
Going from House Windsor to House Targaryen for a change, as HBO continues trying to make up for the good will erosion caused by the last season of Game of Thrones with this prequel series. 19 PnB Rock
1,105,616 
A reminder of the sad fact that a List of murdered hip hop musicians exists, as this Philadelphia rapper was shot dead at just 31 during a robbery. 20 Catherine, Princess of Wales
1,074,153 
The wife of #8, making her the future Queen Consort.
Followed in the list by #2's other daughter-in-law:21 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex 
1,013,298 
#1's granddaughter-in-law, and #16's wife. The media has managed to create another Meghan-and-Harry scandal out of this, the details of which I neither know of nor care about. 22 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
998,353 
The one article that #1 has to beat to be the most viewed of the year (and considering that even after the media onslaught the great booster of the royals' Wikipedia views returns, it's a possibility!), a crisis that still hasn't been solved 7 months later. The invaded country has launched a counter-offense, and a nuclear power plant has been shut down before again Ukraine sees a disastrous atomic incident. 23 Edward VII
981,813 
The Queen's great-grandfather, King from 1901 to 1910. His appearance this week means this list includes every British monarch from 1837 to the present day. 24 Deaths in 2022 
911,098 
After a week off, it's back. So, with all due respect:
The Queen Is Dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb25 The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
864,383 
Finally, it's Amazon's Lord of the Rings prequel that is still here in its third week, but is dropping down despite the release of new episodes.
Exclusions
edit- This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.