HM’S funeral practice a ‘comedy of errors’

THE only rehearsal for Elizabeth II’S funeral was a “comedy of errors” in which a band went missing, the buses did not turn up, and a Gentleman at Arms was nearly crushed, it has emerged.

A behind-the-scenes account of the late Queen’s funeral rehearsal, in which the entire procession was run through in the early hours of Sept 15 2022, reveals the many glitches organisers had to overcome. “It was a comedy of errors,” says Garrison Sgt Maj “Vern” Stokes, the man responsible for the military and ceremonial aspects of the state funeral. “Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.”

Robert Hardman’s new biography of Charles III, which details the late Queen’s final days and funeral, also reveals the flurry of activity required to bring key military personnel back to Britain in time.

The Queen’s Company Grenadier Guards were on patrol in Iraq, the State Trumpeters were on a plane to Canada, the band of the Irish Guards was on tour in the Netherlands and one Life Guard’s officer was on his honeymoon.

Brig James Stopford, a member of the sovereign’s ceremonial bodyguard, was in Corfu delivering a father-of-thebride speech when he received a text message saying: “You are commanded to return to the United Kingdom immediately to attend to your duties for Her Late Majesty’s funeral.”

Hardman writes: “It was a minor miracle there were no major glitches on the funeral day itself.”

In interviews with palace staff, those involved in funeral and coronation planning and even the Princess Royal, the book includes unexpected moments behind a spectacle not seen for 70 years. For example, with time for only one full rehearsal, organisers found the carefully calculated parade times had failed to take into account the different length and speed of step of a Guardsman and a Royal Navy recruit pulling a two-ton gun carriage, meaning the front of the parade “ended up parting company with the coffin”, Mr Hardman wrote.

The whole parade was “out of step from the start” after the bagpipes preempted the first command. One band was led to the wrong start point and one Gentlemen at Arms was nearly trapped between the gun carriage and Wellington Arch.

Among other minor hiccups were the arrangements to keep the Princess Royal and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, fed and hydrated on the long drive from Balmoral to Edinburgh with the late Queen’s coffin.