The late Queen’s funeral rehearsal was a chaotic “comedy of errors”, a new royal book has claimed.
Robert Hardman, author of a new biography of Charles III, released a behind-the-scenes account of the rehearsal that took place early in the morning of September 15 2022.
The author wrote that during the rehearsal, “everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” including a band going missing, buses not turning up and a Gentleman at Arms almost being crushed.
The man responsible for the military and ceremonial aspects of the funeral, Garrison Sergeant Major “Vern” Stokes, detailed the chaos of the rehearsal that made it a “comedy of errors.”
The Queen's funeral rehearsal was on September 15 2022.
PA
Hardman details how the whole parade was “out of step from the start” as the bagpipes pre-empted the first command and one band began at the wrong start point.
A Gentleman at Arms was also almost crushed between the gun carriage and Wellington Arch after turning the wrong way at Marble Arch.
During the rehearsal, the organisers failed to coordinate the length and speed of steps required by a Guardsman and a Royal Navy recruit who were carrying a two-ton gun carriage resulting in the front of the parade “parting company with the coffin.”
There was only time for one full rehearsal before the Queen’s funeral amid the chaos of activity to bring back key military personnel to the country.
During the funeral rehearsal “everything that could go wrong did go wrong."
PA
Following her death, main parties were summoned from around the globe to return to the UK for the funeral.
The Queen’s Company Grenadier Guards were on patrol with Kurdish trainees in Iraq, the State Trumpeters were on a tour in Canada, The Band of the Irish Guards were on tour in the Netherlands and one Life Guard’s officer was on holiday.
Brigadier James Stopford, a member of the sovereign’s ceremonial bodyguard, was attending his daughter’s wedding in Corfu when he was asked to return to the UK to attend the funeral.
Stopford received a text saying: “You are commanded to return to the United Kingdom immediately to attend to your duties for Her Late Majesty’s funeral.”
King Charles III presents the Royal Victorian Order to members of the Royal Navy
PA
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Hardman said: “It was a minor miracle there were no major glitches on the funeral day itself.”
The new biography, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, is to be released on January 18 2024.
It includes interviews with Palace staff and those involved with the planning of the Queen’s funeral including Princess Anne.
Princess Anne commented on how she and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, were left without much food or water on their trip from Balmoral to Edinburgh with the late Queen’s coffin.
Anne said: “We took a couple of bottles of water with us and something to nibble on because it was quite a longish trip.
“But, to be honest, we could only have taken a drink from a bottle while we were going over the Forth Bridge where there weren’t any people.”