The final public act of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign draws to a close with, inevitably, a chorus of ‘God Save the King’, a variant on the UK’s national anthem that will take some getting used to for many people, not just in the UK but across the world.
One aspect of the Queen’s astute modernisation of the Crown — part of what one courtier dubbed the ‘Marmite jar strategy’ of changing the institution gradually and subtly to keep it both a bastion of tradition and a relevant institution in modern British life — was the use of modern media. She allowed the cameras to film a royal documentary in the 1960s, her coronation was the first major televised event in British life, and her successor, King Charles III, opened up the accession council, in which his rule was formally affirmed, to cameras for the first time.
As Charles III noted while he was prince, to be ‘just a presence would be fatal to the political project: to survive, the UK monarchy must remain central to public life, in part through big televised events like this one.
The queen’s casket entered Westminster Abbey around 11 a.m. local time Monday, exiting around noon after the funeral proceedings. King Charles III, the royal family, and dignitaries from around the world arrived shortly ahead of the funeral.
The state funeral, expected to be the biggest gathering of world leaders in years, drew in millions of people to the streets of London and likely billions more to their TVs and computer screens. The funeral and events surrounding it were designed to help unite the royal family and divide subjects while helping ensure the monarchy survives another century.
London’s mayor’s office said up to two million people could line the streets as members of the royal family and hundreds of foreign dignitaries and heads of state descend on Westminster Abbey for a ceremony expected to be full of all the pomp and splendor the monarchy can offer. More than 10,000 police officers were on patrol in London with reinforcements supplied from all of Britain’s 43 police forces, authorities said.
