It has long been said that a week is a very long time in Politics. The events of three weeks ago showed that this old saying still holds true.
After two months of campaigning, Liz Truss won the Conservative Party Leadership election and was invited by Her late Majesty the Queen to form a government. We all saw the wonderful photos of the Queen at her first audience with her new Prime Minister, her fifteenth since her reign began over 70 years ago. Little did we know, it would also be her last.
Following our new Prime Minister’s appointment by HM Queen on Tuesday, I was asked to become HM Treasurer of the Household (The Deputy Chief Whip) on Wednesday. It was an honour to be given such an important role and once again to take my place in the Royal Household. I was very much looking forward to meeting the Queen again, several years after I last served as a member of her Household in 2019. Then, on the Thursday the country was shook to it’s core by the sad news that HM the Queen passed away.
My new role, as well as managing the day-to-day business and welfare of government, meant that I would be part of very specific Royal Duties that would be enacted for the first time in 70 years! I was to undertake in a huge honour and privilege and be involved with the historic duties at the passing of our beloved Monarch.
There are four White Stave holders in Parliament. The Lord Chamberlain, myself as Treasurer of HM Household, The Comptroller of the House, and The Vice Chamberlain. The White Staves are given to each of these members by the Monarch and signify their reign. On the death of our Monarch, the Lord Chamberlain breaks his stave, and it is buried with the Monarch, which signifies the end of their reign.
Having been new to my role, I did not have much time to practice the duties that I was to perform as part of HM funeral procession. However, I was blessed to have a great team around my, who ensured I was informed as to what these duties entailed and was assisted in my preparation for the day.
My duties were important and varied. I would attend Parliament when the coffin arrived for the laying of state, attending the service in Westminster Abbey which was mind blowing and beautiful, we then had to walk in front of the coffin in the full procession. Following which, we would travel to Windsor and once again take our place in the procession along the Long Walk up to Windsor Castle and St George’s Chapel, where the smaller service was to be held.
As we marched past the tens of thousands of people who had made their way to London to pay their respects, what struck me, was the deep emotion, respect and reflective quietness as Her Majesty passed them. A day of great sadness. The one part of the procession which particularly tugged at my heart strings was when the coffin was transferred from the Gun Carriage to the Hearse. As the hearse departed, the National Anthem played. That was the real moment, for me, when I realised that our Queen would no longer be a living part of our lives.
Next came the Long Walk, which, from the farm to the magnificent castle and St George’s Chapel, is just over 3 miles. Again, the sheer amount of people that came was over whelming. We then attended the internment service where all Her Majesty’s close friends and staff were in attendance and where the Lord Chamberlains White Stave was officially broken to signify the end of the Reign of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
It was a day of great sadness, a day of great sorrow and a day of great celebration. The celebration of the life and achievements of our beloved Queen, who so dutifully and steadfastly gave her whole life in service to our great country and commonwealth. We shall not know her like again.
I was most pleased to meet His Majesty the King following the Ascension Council. I know that HM will work steadfastly to continue the late Queen’s legacy. King Charles III has been the longest reigning heir to the throne our nation has seen. Throughout those 73 years, he too has dedicated himself to our service and to the service of people throughout the Commonwealth. He will, undoubtedly, go on doing so with the great vigour, devotion and love that Her late Majesty so deftly embodied. I know that he will have the support of every citizen of our great nation in doing so. Now as one voice, we are proud to evoke, once more, the prayer and the anthem.
God Save The King!