Subject: Blessed with good weather
There is such sadness etched in so many of the faces of the people edging their way passed the coffin laying in state in Westminster Hall. For some it verges on grief and one wonders, as we did when Diana was buried why people who can’t have known the Queen seem so invested in her death. The anguish, with Diana almost hysteria', was palpable
as the people openly crying flung flowers towards Diana’s coffin. Now, sotto voce, the scene is more dignified in Westminster Hall as people walk passed the coffin in almost total silence. Big burly men, unabashed, wiping away their tears, the strained look on the faces of women, wing tailed morning suited attendants officiate, their breed mindful of the power they hold. Some, and our exclusion zoned establishment orientated society have always been keen to make exceptions, don’t have to join the queue but are given a platform opposite the coffin where they can come and go without actually mixing. Yesterday I noted Theresa May and her husband bucking that trend, endured the queue and filed passed with everyone else which I thought spoke volumes for this much derided Prime Minister. Derided by charlatans who gathered around Johnson in his passage to the job and the evil chorus played out by the evil press which denied her a fair platform or hearing. Perhaps her resolute belief in the church and its congregation has something to do with her preference.
as the people openly crying flung flowers towards Diana’s coffin. Now, sotto voce, the scene is more dignified in Westminster Hall as people walk passed the coffin in almost total silence. Big burly men, unabashed, wiping away their tears, the strained look on the faces of women, wing tailed morning suited attendants officiate, their breed mindful of the power they hold. Some, and our exclusion zoned establishment orientated society have always been keen to make exceptions, don’t have to join the queue but are given a platform opposite the coffin where they can come and go without actually mixing. Yesterday I noted Theresa May and her husband bucking that trend, endured the queue and filed passed with everyone else which I thought spoke volumes for this much derided Prime Minister. Derided by charlatans who gathered around Johnson in his passage to the job and the evil chorus played out by the evil press which denied her a fair platform or hearing. Perhaps her resolute belief in the church and its congregation has something to do with her preference.
The camera in the Hall pans along the faces as it perfectly references our multifaceted society. Old and young, tall and bent, all shades of the human rainbow, some in casual clothes, some resplendent in their uniforms decked with medals celebrating a life of duty to the Queen. Wheelchaired oldies who’s journey this may be their last but they are determined to make it. Teenagers who hardly know an earl from a viscount are also in the queue hypnotically drawn to the flame.
Eleven hours to queue and the queue winds for 4 miles along the other side of the Thames. Thank goodness we have been blessed with good weather.
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