Fines set to be issued over Downing Street party on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral

The former civil servant in charge of ethics across Whitehall is also said to have been fined £50, having attended a leaving do in the Cabinet Office in June 2020.

However, a Cabinet Minister has suggested that the country has “moved on” from the saga, and that his constituents are not calling for resignations over the matter.

The Guardian reported on Sunday evening that fixed penalty notices (FPNs) will be issued over an event in Number 10 which went on into the early hours of April 16 last year.

Later that afternoon, the Queen was seen sitting alone at the funeral service for her husband of more than seven decades.

Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, was also reported to be among those to receive an FPN from Scotland Yard as part of its investigation.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Ms MacNamara received a £50 fine on Friday in connection with a leaving do held in the Cabinet Office on June 18 2020 to mark the departure of a private secretary.

Ms MacNamara was the director general of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office from 2018 to 2020 and left Government to work for the Premier League.

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said on Monday that “of course” the allegations of partying did not sit comfortably with him, but he dismissed calls that anyone should resign if they were issued with a penalty.

“I have 65,000 constituents in west Wales, where I represent, and they are not shy in coming forward and expressing a view about this and a number of other subjects,” he told Sky News.

“And throughout all of this saga of the Downing Street parties they have said one thing very clearly, and in a vast majority they say they want contrition and they want an apology, but they don’t want a resignation.”

Mr Hart said “the world has moved on a considerable distance” and he told TalkRadio: “Looking at how this interview started and what we’re seeing in Ukraine, that helps contextualise all of this in my head.

“And I think we’re now dealing with something of such seriousness and such horror that what went on maybe two years ago clearly needs to be dealt with, and should be – it’s a source of irritation for a lot of people still – but I’m glad that this thing is now coming to a conclusion.”