So calm and composed
THE Queen has always said she needs to be seen to be believed.
So she would have been relieved, and energised, to be back at work opening her Parliament just a month after Prince Philip’s death.
She has been brilliant during the pandemic and has embraced the Zoom age. But there is no substitute for pulling the real-life levers of state and meeting people face to face.
To sum up in Line Of Duty-speak, HM has had enough of WFH at WC!
It was hugely poignant to see the Queen sitting on a single gold throne with just her handbag by her side.
But of course it wasn’t the first time she had not been accompanied by Philip, who retired in 2017, and had Charles and Camilla next to her.
She no longer wears the Imperial State Crown or ceremonial robes at her age because of their weight, and few can argue with that decision.
Considering her loss she seemed calm and composed and, as always, delivered the speech perfectly.
Yes, her voice was slightly frail, and she might have been thinking of horses as she pronounced Gigabyte with a “bit” but at 95 she is still “One-take Windsor”.
It was just wonderful to see Her Majesty NOT wearing a mask and walking well, although she now takes a lift instead of stairs to get up to the Lords.
For Charles, the death of his father brings home the reality that his destiny as king is approaching. And, as he sat nervously fiddling with his fingers, he was doubtless reflecting how times are changing.
However, the Prince of Wales knows the Queen will never abdicate and so his first priority now is to support her. Holding her hand while walking through the chamber was symbolic as well as practical.
Where the Queen probably misses Philip – who stared down from the wall in a portrait – the most is his humour at formal occasions.
You would always see them laughing about something as they rode to and from Parliament in the carriage, with mickey-taking of politicians a speciality of the Duke.
And he always looked amused when the Lord Chancellor would present the speech and retreat down some steps backwards (a custom now abolished).
He would certainly have had plenty to say about masks and social distancing yesterday!
The Queen’s late cousin Margaret Rhodes once told me Elizabeth “loved being Queen” and enjoyed her job, which keeps her young at heart.
Yesterday Philip would have been delighted to see her “just getting on with it”.