Queen Mother honored in Britain

Posted 7:24AM on Friday 5th April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

LONDON - To the solemn beat of military bands, the coffin of the Queen Mother was carried through the heart of London on a gun carriage Friday as Britain honored the woman whose life spanned a tumultuous century of upheaval and change. Draped in her personal standard and topped with a diamond-encrusted crown and a single wreath of white roses from Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother's coffin was taken to Parliament, where it will lie in state for four days to let people pay their final respects. ``In loving memory,'' read a note on the wreath from the queen to her mother, who died Saturday aged 101. Hundreds of royal guards in red tunics and gleaming black bearskin hats, sailors in white caps and blue uniforms and members of the Royal Air Force in light blue escorted the solemn procession, their ranks passing by at the slow march used for funerals. It was a fine spring day, with the sun shining down on London. Fourteen members of the royal family, including Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry and most of her other grandchildren, walked behind the coffin, which was greeted by the queen as it arrived at Parliament. Many of the royal mourners were dressed in military uniforms and escorted by Britain's military chiefs. Eight guardsmen carefully lifted the coffin from the gun carriage when it reached Parliament and carried it on their shoulders into the building. Clergymen walked in front with golden crosses. Inside it was met by the queen, accompanied by royal and parliamentary officials dressed in flowing gold and black robes and white horse-hair wigs. Following the brief service the queen, looking tired and strained, quickly left with the rest of the royal family, in a convoy of Rolls Royce limousines and returned to Buckingham Palace. She was applauded and cheered by many of the onlookers, many of them waving small British flags. A choir in white and red robes sang psalms as the coffin was carried into the medieval Westminster Hall and laid on a purple-draped dais, flanked by four large burning candles. The Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey led prayers. ``We give thanks for her example of faithful duty,'' he said. Prime Minister Tony Blair and other government and political leaders and foreign guests solemnly watched. As the procession left for Westminster Hall, a 28 gun salute was fired from nearby Green Park - one every minute of the journey. The coffin was carried on a cannon of the Royal Horse Artillery and flanked by artillerymen in ceremonial black and red uniforms. In marked contrast to the funeral of the late Princess Diana five years ago, when hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the streets of the capital, the turnout to watch Friday's elaborate procession was fairly light. Public reaction to the Queen Mother's death has been muted, reflecting the diminished role of the monarchy in modern Britain. Some mourners, however, camped overnight on the sidewalk and others had arrived before dawn to secure a good view. A few people wept openly and bowed their heads as the procession passed. ``It's a historical event and we won't see anything like this again,'' said Patricia Spears, 44. ``The Queen Mother was born at the start of one century and died at the start of the next. She was a remarkable and well-loved woman." Sixty central London streets were sealed off for the procession, the largest of its kind since former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill was buried in 1965. In a break with tradition, Princess Anne, dressed in the uniform of a Royal Navy officer, also walked behind the coffin - normally female members of the royal family do not take part in such processions.. The gun carriage which bore the Queen Mother's coffin - the same carriage used for her husband King George VI's funeral in 1952 - was drawn by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery. On Thursday, the queen thanked well-wishers as she examined bouquets outside St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the Queen Mother will be interred next Tuesday. ``It's an amazing sight, isn't it? People are so kind,'' said the black-clad queen, who looked at the flowers with her husband, Prince Philip. ``My mother lived to 101, which is a great age - she had a wonderful life,'' the queen said. Many Britons had a strong affection for the royal matriarch, remembering her warm smile and visits to the bomb-damaged East End of London during World War II. Thousands have signed condolence books across the country or left flowers outside the Queen Mother's homes in England and Scotland.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/202567