Western Morning News (Saturday)
Magical visits that inspired real devotion
WMN writer MARTIN HESP regularly covered visits by The Queen to the Westcountry. Here, following her peaceful passing at Balmoral, he reflects on those events
THERE are some moments which reach deep and pull away at the heart strings, and millions of us will have had one of those at 6.30 on Thursday evening. You didn’t have to be a royalist to feel the immense gravity of the occasion. It was one of those moments which, in years to come, will make people recall and relate to others exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that our longest serving monarch had passed away.
For more than 70 years she ruled over us. Those of a republican bent might spurn such an observation, but she was our legal monarch and she went about her unique role with skill and almost faultless attention. Even anti-royalists could never question Elizabeth II’s absolute adherence to – and belief in – the word ‘duty’.
It cannot have been easy. As has been pointed out since her death, she was the most photographed and filmed person to ever have existed and because of her great longevity as the head of this nation that record is unlikely ever to be broken. Her constant presence – just the knowledge that she was there doing what she had always done so quietly and so well – somehow gave the vast majority of us some kind of sense that all was well. Upon those occasions when the world turned ugly or sour, her seemingly permanent status right up there at the top of our vast social or tribal system was somehow comforting.
I say that as someone who, long ago, used to laugh at the idea of royalty. Why, I used to ask as a young whipper-snapper, should just one family be singled out to be more worthy and special than the rest of us? But I was young and naive enough to think the world could and should run on cold logic. It doesn’t, of course. So much of our human response to the world around us is based on our moods and emotions.
It was when I began working for this daily newspaper here in the Westcountry that I discovered, somewhat to my dismay at the time,
just how powerful the monarchyeffect really was. Sometimes you have to see something in order to believe in it.
What I saw, as I took up my job as senior feature writer and so started covering royal visits to the region, was absolute devotion on a scale that I’d never witnessed before. It was a kind of magic. There was this one rather tiny lady walking about the streets of Exeter or Falmouth or Taunton or wherever, only to be followed by audiences of many thousands, watching her in awe.
It is only when you see it in action that you realise the powerful mystery of it all. And it was only when you watched Queen Elizabeth II in action that you began to understand just how very good she was at her difficult and totally unique job. I have no qualifications in psychology or anthropology to explain it – but as a journalist who has covered a great many royal occasions, I do know that it exists.
If I read through my own 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.
“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. “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.”
As I say, I was transfixed by the way in which she was able to hold such vast crowds in awe. If there were any republicans in Exeter that day, they kept a very low profile.
It was the same in Taunton the next day. 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 farmers’ market.
“I was amazed and delighted by how well prepared they were,” said June Small, of Charlton Orchards. “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 had a great knowledge of countryside matters.”
One person who discussed foot and mouth with the Queen was Richard Vines, of 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.”
Farmer Janet Barons also spoke 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 it really is an important way of getting our products out in front of people.”
The 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.”
I thought perhaps he suspected that I was 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.”
Somewhere there’s an image of that moment taken by North Devon photographer Guy Harrop, who was working with me that day.
After the farmers’ market, the royal couple travelled by car around the block to Vivary Park which looked resplendent in bright sunshine. An estimated 6,000 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 for the public good. 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.
Then it was off to Wells in a gleaming royal blue helicopter, which lifted off into bright blue skies – to the accompaniment of 10,000 cheers. If there was a rebel left in Taunton, then he or she was now a rebel without a cause...
Sunny memories of this remarkable woman. And just a brief Westcountry taste of the sense of magic she was able to create for many thousands of her subjects.