A silent journey on a cannon carriage, escorted by the royal family led by Charles III, a son, a king. And with him his grandchildren, close in homage to the sovereign
FROM OUR SEND
LONDON – Charles, the King, and all the Windsors accompany the Queen this afternoon on her final farewell to the abode of a lifetime. On a cannon carriage the remains of the sovereign will leave Buckingham Palace, his home and office of a lifetime, that balcony entered in the Windsor legend, at exactly 2 and 22 minutes to arrive in procession to the Houses of Parliament, where the sovereign will be hoisted on the bier for the rite of lying in state. And with Charles and the whole grief-stricken royal family, William and Harry, reunited once again – like that tragic September morning 25 years ago, behind Diana’s coffin.
This time they will instead be united in grief over the loss of granny, the beloved grandmother as Harry wrote remembering her. The new king, Charles III, the Queen’s children, the grandchildren and to follow – also reunited since the last hour of Elizabeth II – the new Princess of Wales, Kate, and Meghan Duchess of Sussex. A silent parade will cross the heart of London from the royal palace, to the Mall where the flags that just a few months ago were proudly waving in the June sun for the Platinum Jubilee, are now tilted, a tribute to the queen.
And then the royal procession – a royal procession never so impressive – will arrive in front of the political heart of the country, at number 10 Downing street. and then parade in front of Whitehall where a king, Charles I was beheaded centuries ago, and will pass in front of that Cenotaph in front of which the queen has so often placed the poppies of remembrance, of memory. This time the thoughts of an entire country will be for her instead. In this parade in total silence broken only by Big Ben and the cannon fire in memory of her. And finally the landing in Westminster.
To look for other precedent rebours in the history of the Royal Family, one must look to the farewell to the more than 100-year-old Queen Mum on April 9, 2002, according to the action plan indicated by the code name Tay Bridge. Not a state funeral in that case, but well codified according to an ancient and unscratchable ritual.
That spring the coffin – on which the Koh-i-Noor diamond shone – with its 105 carats set in the crown, and with the camellias placed by her daughter Elizabeth on the queen’s banner, it was hoisted on a cannon carriage and transported in the austere and medieval solemnity of Westminster Hall to the Houses of Parliament, the last remnant of the ancient Palace of Westminster, the first palace on the Thames. There, under the high and severe vaults, the Queen Mother was exhibited to the public on the same two-meter-high bier on which her husband, King George VI, had received the moving homage of the English.
That day Queen Elizabeth mourned a mother, a beloved matriarch of the country like a grandmother, a woman and a queen consort. Today the Windsors and the country mourn Elizabeth who after the farewell to the Queen Mum was the matriarch of the Windsors, together with the guide of the country.
September 14, 2022 (change September 14, 2022 | 10:41)
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