Queen’s funeral rehearsal was a comedy of errors as even the band went AWOL… it was a minor miracle there were no major glitches on the day itself
The queen’s funeral plans called for only one rehearsal for the entire procession in London.
It took place on September 15, but very early to minimize crowds and unwanted media attention.
“It was quite unsettling being in Downing Street,” recalls Liz Truss. “It can be quite a noisy place to live.”
There was, of course, quite a bit of screaming that evening. “It was a comedy of errors,” says Garrison Sergeant Major “Vern” Stokes. “Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.”
He was irritated that during the initial reconnaissance, some officers seemed more interested in catching up with long-lost buddies than paying attention to them.
Now, at the very beginning, the bagpipes were ahead of his first team, which meant that the whole parade was out of step from the very beginning.
The queen’s funeral plans called for only one rehearsal for the entire procession in London.
The rehearsal took place on September 15, but in the very early hours to minimize crowds and unwanted media attention.
It was a small miracle: there were no major disruptions on the day of the funeral.
Even more alarming, an entire group simply went missing because their commanding officer led them to the wrong starting point.
At Hyde Park Corner one of the “Gentlemen at Arms” went the wrong way and was nearly crushed, perhaps fatally, between a gun carriage and Wellington Arch.
The buses that were supposed to transport hundreds of troops to the Windsor detention center never showed up.
Most troubling was that the parade was timed according to the guardsman’s stride range – 30 inches – with all the large drums beating out the time at 75 steps per minute.
However, the average speed of a Royal Navy recruit pulling a two-ton carriage was found to be about 20 inches.
As a result, the front of the parade parted ways with the coffin.
It was too late to rewrite the plan – so it was a minor miracle that there were no major disruptions on the day of the funeral.
© Robert Hardman, 2024
- Adapted from The New King Charles III. New Court. The Inside Story by Robert Hardman, published by Macmillan on 18 January, priced £22. To order a copy for £17.60 (offer valid until 29 February 2024; UK P&P free on orders over £25) visit the Postal Store. co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.