IAN HYLAND
on last night’s telly
Her Majesty’s Cavalry, ITV ★★★★
This behind-the-scenes look at the Queen’s fanciest regiment had a rather huge stroke of luck timing-wise.
ITV’s cameras happened to be in town just as final preparations were being made for last summer’s big Royal Wedding. Which was how we
discovered that on the morning of the big day top lips were still being shaved, ponytails were still being untangled, bottoms were still being oiled up and a nervous young gingerhaired chap was secretly hoping someone would get “pulled off” before the kick-off.
At this point I should perhaps make it clear I am referring to the horses, not to Harry and Meghan’s
esteemed guests – although if the likes of David Beckham, Idris Elba and James Corden do like to give their bums a quick buff before a big occasion I fully applaud their attention to detail.
I should also clarify that the ginger fellow was a young recruit called Lloyd who was on stand-by to be part of the Royal escort should one of his Household Cavalry buddies be pulled off duty following the morning inspection.
Sadly, despite the big
build-up at the start of this episode, we didn’t actually find out any juicy gossip about the wedding itself.
We heard some lovely facts about the horses though, my favourite one being that they wear big fluffy ear protectors whenever there is a large crowd gathered.
I suspect one or two of the beautiful people present in the Chapel would have appreciated a pair of those – especially when Reverend Michael Curry’s sermon passed the 10-minute mark.
‘‘ If the likes of Elba, Corden and Beckham do give their bums a quick buff before a big occasion I applaud them