After breakfast I went to the Eucharist at St Catherine's and signed the Royal Condolences book, set out in the Lady Chapel with the Queen's portrait and lit candles. There were ten of us. It's Holy Cross day today, also Amanda's birthday. We'll go over to see her on Monday next and watch the Queen's funeral with her on telly. Talking of funerals, I had a call about another funeral at lunchtime. That'll be the third since I got back from Estepona.
I collected this week's veggie bag After church, containing another freshly picked giant lettuce which will last the whole week, as long as we eat some every day. I bought some cherry tomatoes and apples from the church garden as well this morning, so we have an abundance of fresh produce at the moment.
After lunch, I worked on next week's Morning Prayer and Reflection for an hour, then walked over to Pontcanna Fields to see what preparations were being made for the landing of the King's helicopter on Friday morning. So far only a large mobile TV control room has established itself on the grass. I walked to the Cathedral where another mobile TV control room and several other vehicles providing power for additional lighting are parked. The Cathedral is ringed by LED floodlights directed at the stained glass windows. If it's a dull day, this will provide extra backlight for the windows to show up well on camera. The mobile control units belonging to a service provider called 'Timeline TV' dedicated to providing the latest broadcast 4K HD TV signal technology for world news media. The units don't carry the BBC or ITV logo I remember from previous experience of outside broadcasting. All is outsourced to an independent company nowadays.
As reported on last night's Welsh news, Llandaff village public realm has been getting a lick of paint and all excess vegetation cut back and tided up. The painters were just finishing the handrails outside the north west door when I arrived. A press photographers' gallery has been constructed at the top of the hill in front of the old ruined tower and a tented enclosure next to it above the path for TV cameras. All the pavements are lined with crush barriers and High Street is closed. All the main roads in Cardiff will close on Friday as the King moves from Cathedral to the Senedd and then the Castle. I'll be out with a camera, as usual.
The evening news has been dominated by reports of the procession of the Queen's body from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall and the ceremonial surrounding her lying in state. Now begins the procession of mourning citizens, hundreds of thousands of them between now and early Monday morning. It's been very carefully planned and seems to be working well in terms of the flow of people, with queues already a couple of miles in length along the South Bank of the Thames. A million people are estimated to be in London for the funeral, a third of a million paying their respects at Westminster Hall beforehand. An event of this kind on this scale is pretty unique, and will be a triumph of oganisation and public safety if it goes off without incident.
Much as I have admired and respected the Queen since I was in the Scouts over sixty years ago, I can't imagine going up to London to participate. Quite apart from having pastoral duties here, I find large crowds of any character hard to cope with. Travelling in London is taxing enough at the best of times, but on an occasion like this, even more so. I'm grateful for the TV eye view instead, even if the commentary that accompanies it is unrelenting, repetitive and often unnecessary.
Being able to offer a requiem Mass for the Queen and preach about the meaning of her ministry to us as a nation has been at the core of my mourning. Watching all the ceremonies surrounding succession and laying her to rest is a kind of vigil, praying for continuity between mother and son un-disrupted by contention and strife. I'm sure security everywhere is at the highest level, but discreet, not invasive or self promoting, making it possible for all participants to pass this sad time 'in rest and quietness', as the second Collect for Evensong prays. We live in such uncertain times facing so many great problems. We lose a beloved Queen whose presence reassured the nation that it is possible to cope, to come through crisis together. But I don't believe we will lose what we received from her during my lifetime.
The last episode of this series of 'Shetland' tonight. Another crime drama set in a beautiful environment. A complex mystery solved, and a career ending decision for the key protagonist. Another series is promised next year, but there'll be a change in the island's top cops. Who will inherit the mantle?
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