Western Morning News (Saturday)
Never mind The Crown – it’s the Royal Magic that entrances
Looks back on his own real-life encounters with the Royal Family
LOVE it or loathe it, there can be no doubt that The Crown has been one of the major television events of the century so far. It might be restricted to those who have Netflix subscriptions, but for a long while now millions have been talking about the remarkable multiseries which follows the life and times of the royal family. The latest series, featuring the likes of Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher, has even captured a younger audience – causing many a conversation between grown-up children who can’t quite remember the era, and their parents who can.
A fact which puts me firmly into that camp. And because of all the royal visits I have covered for this newspaper over the past 20 years, I have been able to colour-in some royal stories with my own recollections – which, to my surprise, have been hugely welcomed by my grown up kids and their partners.
Funny isn’t it? You do something as your day-job for years – labouring away because that is what puts food on the table – and suddenly your old work stories become the talk of the family.
I was mentioning The Crown and all the resultant interest in the royal family to the editor of the WMN the other day and he said: “Fantastic! Let’s dig out some of the coverage you did down the years and carry a little mini-series of our own. At least we know your stories will be accurate – unlike some of the tales told in The Crown which may, or may not, have authentic basis in truth.”
He was right there. You could not describe a royal visit to the Westcountry and afford to get things wrong. Most visits attract many thousands of people, and they’d all know the truth if you were to write a load of old nonsense in the next day’s paper.
As for the authenticity of The Crown and its many anecdotes, I have no view on the matter – because, like most of us, I have no way of knowing the truth. What I do know is that every episode of the series is brilliantly made and brilliantly acted.
To me, it doesn’t really matter if the stories are accurate or not, because I feel we all regard the entire royal shooting match as a kind of whimsical fairy-land world anyway. It is the very fact that we cannot really know what goes on behind the doors of those mighty castles and palaces that intrigues us.
Whatever the truth of this story or that, it’s the magic of the royals that pulls in the crowds. As an old hippy who for many years was vaguely anti-royal, I really do mean that. It is only when you see the extraordinary affect that a royal visit has on a huge crowd that you can really know about the awe and the sense of mystery.
I have no qualifications in psychology or anthropology to explain what this is all about – but as a journalist who has covered a great many royal occasions, I do know that it exists. Maybe we humans are hard wired to need some kind of tribal leader or chieftain.
If I read through my own descriptive-accounts of royal visits, I sense the magic again and again. Especially during Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee Year in 2002 when she visited Exeter, Falmouth and Taunton on the 1st and 2nd of May.
“After the ravages caused by the foot-and-mouth epidemic of the previous year, it was hardly surprising that we should see some sort of resurgence in the countryside,” I wrote, while being jostled by crowds on Exeter’s Cathedral Green. Not being in the least bit bothered by royal pomp or ceremony, I entered the city ready to be under-whelmed by the whole thing.
Instead I was mesmerised.
I wrote: “There can be no doubt that her visit to the Devonshire capital will go down as one of the Westcountry’s Royal highlights of the decade – if not the century. It was party-time in the ancient port – a subdued, well-mannered party – but a wonderful, colourful carnival nevertheless.
“The Queen’s visit stopped the city in its tracks. People began lining the streets hours before her arrival. By late afternoon not a blade of grass was in evidence on Cathedral Green.”
I was transfixed by the way in which this small, doll-like, woman was able to hold such vast crowds in awe. If there were any republicans in Exeter that day, they were keeping a very low profile.
It was the same story in Taunton the next day and in the following weeks Jubilee fever seemed to sweep the nation as people dusted off trestle tables and chairs and set up street parties wherever they could.
In Taunton I wrote the following account of the visit...
On the second day of her nationwide Jubilee tour, the Queen walked straight into the heart of rebel country. Not that you’d have known it to look at the thousands of adoring patriots who lined Taunton’s sunlit streets. But 317 years ago, England’s last serious rebel – the Duke of Monmouth – was proclaimed King on the very spot where the present monarch alighted from her car.
There can be no doubt the Queen felt not the slightest twinge of anxiety over this historic fact. On the contrary, she must have been amazed by the enormity of the crowd and by its enthusiasm and warmth.
Taunton was jubilant. If the ancestors of the folk lining the streets were hanged by the notorious Judge Jeffries for their part in the Monmouth Rebellion, so what? That’s all water under the bridge on the River Tone. Royalty was welcomed back to rebeltown with open arms.
No rebels now – but there were some farmers. The recent crisis in agriculture has been a cause for Royal concern and at Taunton the Queen was given the chance to meet the modern face of husbandry and horticulture by taking a stroll around the local farmer’s market.
“I was amazed and delighted by how well prepared they were,” said June Small, of Charlton Orchards. June had been given the job of escorting the Duke of Edinburgh around the market which had set up shop specially for the occasion around the historic Market House in the heart of town.
“Both the Queen and the Duke seemed to know exactly what they were talking about – each time they went to a stall they asked lots of relevant questions and obviously had a great knowledge of countryside matters,” June told me. “The Duke talked to us about our different apple juices and told us how they were also produced on Royal estates.”
Another favourite topic was pork and pigs. Tony Bigwood of Home Farm, Old Cleeve, was amazed how Prince Philip immediately recognised a large model of a Gloucester Old Spot on his stand. “I told him he was right, but that our products are actually made from Oxford Sandy and Blacks,” grinned Tony.
The Queen was attracted to a sign above some fine looking trout that said: “Fresh Caught This Morning.”
Gus Loveridge, of Tracey Mill Trout Farm, near Honiton, told me later: “I had to get up at four o’clock this morning to catch those trout. The Queen commented on all our different products, but she was particularly interested in the fact that we’re now grinding flour in our own water-mill.”
Nearby, stallholder David Meadows, of Flying Fish, Honiton, was waxing lyrical about the size of his fishcakes. “That’s what the Queen noticed,” he said. “She said she’d never seen fishcakes so big.”
Martin Cursham, of Staplecombe Vineyards, near Taunton, was asked how difficult it was to produce wine in a kingdom known not only for its Royalty but for its weather. “I told her it was quite possible if you go about it in the right way. After all, we’ve been making wine successfully for 22 years.”
“I was really impressed by their knowledge of different breeds,” said Will Mann, of Larkworthy Farm, Devon, standing proudly over some of the finest looking trussed birds you’ll find anywhere in the region. “Prince Phillip asked me about the breed, and when I told him they were mostly cobs he seemed to know exactly what I was talking about.”
Another person who discussed foot and mouth with the Queen was
Richard Vines, of Wild Beef, Hillhead Farm, Chagford. “We also talked about the breeds we use and the concept of free-range beef. We told her about our North and South Devon cattle and, you could see, she really knew what she was talking about by the things she said.”
Janet Barons, of Tower Farm, near Taunton, had a chat with the Queen about foot and mouth. “She asked what had happened to us and I told her how we had to close our farm shop. She was amazed by the volume of cheese we sell here and asked how important the Farmers’ Market was to us. I told her we do nine different markets a month and it really is an important way of getting our products out in front of people.”
The entire centre of town was shut for the great event. The wide ‘ Y’ shaped heart of Taunton was lined with several thousand people who looked on as the big black limousine pulled up by the Market House.
I was standing close to the farmers’ market when a policeman opened the barrier and announced: “Would anyone like to come in and pretend to be a shopper? Shoppers mind. That’s what you’ve got to pretend to be, or you can buy something if you like. It’s for the cameras.”
We surged forward, but he caught me by the arm and said: “Not you.”
At first I thought perhaps he thought I looked like a potential assassin. But looking at my notebook he said: “No journalists.”
That was all right because I now had a front row view and was rewarded by a smile from the Queen. “Morning Ma’am,” I said, as she passed within a foot of me on a walkabout. I shall not forget the regal smile she gave or the fact that she instantly replied: “Saw you in Exeter yesterday.”
Anthony Gibson, regional director for the NFU, had a much longer chat: “We had quite a talk,” he told me later. “The Queen wanted to know about the effects of foot and mouth and she said that people were showing great resolve and determination. And I told her how farmers’ markets were a fantastic example of that...”
Next the Royal couple travelled by car around the block to Vivary Park which looked resplendent in the bright sunshine. It is a big park – and it was full. Six thousand Somerset folk crowded around the bandstand and large marquee where the Royal couple met various dignitaries and viewed stalls and exhibitions set up by charities and other institutions. The whole place seemed to have taken on a holiday atmosphere with more than 2,500 schoolchildren having been allowed out of class to see the Queen, and several hundred folk picnicking under the trees.
And then it was off to Wells in a gleaming, royal blue, helicopter which lifted off into bright blue skies – to the accompaniment of ten thousand cheers. If there was a rebel left in Taunton – he or she was now a rebel without a cause...