One’s Thin Red Lines!
No massed ranks of Guards. No balcony full of Royals. But Queen is picture of happiness at socially distanced Trooping the Colour
ANYONE can be relied upon to stick to a strict formation, it’s the Queen’s Foot Guards.
But rather than marching shoulder-to-shoulder as they usually would, a select few members of the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Guards paraded in front of the Queen to mark her official birthday yesterday – while maintaining their crucial two-metre distance.
The pared-down pageantry was not a patch on the usual pomp of Trooping the Colour – with no carriages, Red Arrows or Prince George pulling faces on the Buckingham Palace balcony – but Her Majesty was nonetheless visibly thrilled with the display. She beamed with delight as around 30 soldiers – including Rhian Morgan, the first-ever female guardsman to parade for the Queen’s birthday – were put through their paces in the glorious sunshine that bathed Windsor Castle’s Quadrangle.
This was the Queen’s first live TV appearance since attending the Commonwealth Day Service in early March – a Zoom meeting to carers notwithstanding.
She had already celebrated her actual 94th birthday in April under lockdown at Windsor Castle, but aides felt that, despite the cancellation of the official Trooping the Colour, a smaller-scale military celebration could still go on. No other members of the Royal Family could be present, but Princes Charles and William are understood to have watched the live BBC broadcast.
In a white silk dress and ‘muted jade’ coat by Stewart Parvin and a hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan, accessorised with a diamond brooch in the shape of the leek of the Welsh Guards, the Queen beamed as she took a seat on a dais alongside ViceAdmiral Tony Johnstone-Burt, Master of the Household, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Vernon, Comptroller, and Major Nana TwumasiIF
Ankrah, her equerry. After the Royal salute, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, who are currently serving at Windsor and so did not need to travel, performed their drills. They have played a key role in the Covid-19 response and were due to have their Colour ‘trooped’ at this year’s official parade.
A reduced Massed Band of the Household Division of about 50 musicians played a series of Welsh tunes during the 20-minute ceremony, including Men Of Harlech. The Queen watched the Guards’ Colour being paraded and stood for a second salute as the National Anthem was played before returning inside. A full Trooping the Colour
was last held at Windsor in 1895 for Queen Victoria, while this Queen has been at Horse Guards Parade for the event every year of her reign, except for 1955 when it was cancelled due to a rail strike.
Garrison Sergeant Major Andrew Stokes, who oversaw the soldiers’ training, said: ‘With fewer people on parade there is no hiding place… no room for errors.’ Lance Corporal Chusa Siwale, 29, from Zambia, was the Lone Drummer for the ceremony. He said: ‘It is a huge privilege. Only four weeks ago I was testing key workers for Covid-19, now I am on parade in front of Her Majesty. This is a very proud day.’
THE UK’s coronavirus response has meant doing things differently. Whether it’s working from home, wearing a mask, missing the pub, not visiting friends, going without your favourite restaurant or swapping public transport for Shanks’s pony, things have changed for us all.
These past three months have been a period of firsts – first lockdown, first Zoom meeting, first remote birthday party, first online pub quiz.
It’s not only young professionals who are finding new ways of working. The Queen conducted her first ‘official’ video conference call last week. Alongside her daughter, Princess Anne, she spoke to a number of care workers as part of Carers Week, listened to their stories and asked about the challenges they face.
One of them, Alexandra Atkins, 24, from Swansea – who has cared for a family member since she was eight years old – said that while it was clear the Queen was unused to this kind of work call, ‘she really took it in her stride’.
Nadia Taylor, 44, from London, who looks after her mother, was touched when ‘the Queen asked questions about how we all coped and called us extraordinary, which was lovely’.
You don’t have to be a royalist to appreciate how pitch-perfect the Queen’s interventions have been during the pandemic.
From her television addresses when she urges the nation to hold fast, look after one another and remember that ‘we will meet again’, to small gestures such as last week’s Zoom call, she has struck the right note every time. It’s worth noting how much of a steadying, calming presence has come from the palace, especially when much of the country finds itself wanting to throw a cushion at the TV when a politician comes on, braying about huge successes (when it’s clear the challenges are even greater), or when a scientist, medical officer or adviser – who are supposed to be helping shape the national response – find themselves on the front pages for breaching the rules.
AND it’s not as if the Queen has troubles to seek, with fallout from specific events such as Prince Harry and Meghan taking a step back from royal life, and Prince Andrew giving a catastrophic interview about his friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Then there are more general concerns, such as Prince Philip’s health at 99, Prince Charles contracting coronavirus at the age of 71, and having to vacate the palace to hole up in Windsor to ride out the lockdown.
How easy would it have been for the Queen, whose official birthday was yesterday, to have used this period to take a step back – to rest and to concentrate on herself and those closest to her.
But Her Majesty’s sense of duty has shone through.
She was the one who wanted to talk directly to the country. She was the one reminding us that our nation had come through challenging times before and could rise to this challenge now.
This beacon of constancy and compassion wanted to instruct us to help one another – to remember that, as her own wartime experience showed, we truly are stronger together.
No 94-year-old needs to still be working. No 94-year-old finding themselves in lockdown needs to go above and beyond to try out new technology to support others and offer them thanks.
But this 94-year-old has done all of that and more, even finding time to go horse riding for a bit of fresh air and exercise.
After all of this is finished, there will be lessons to learn for everyone – the politicians, scientists, health professionals, vaccine makers, economic forecasters and a thousand others.
There will be mountains of paper filled with analysis on what the UK got right and wrong as we faced into the storm.
But we should remember the single unifying figure, binding the fraying chords together, even just a little. The person who knew there was a good she was able to do and was determined to do it.
My, but we are fortunate in our Queen. Thank you Ma’am.