Keeping The Ship of State On An Even Keel...

 

As plans gather pace for the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the first hints of gently mocking and questioning are starting to emerge in some publications. It has been reported that the UK has apparently asked heads of state attending the funeral to fly commercial air where possible, and to take a group bus to the funeral itself. Apparently, this is somehow a bad thing according to internet self-proclaimed Royal Funeral Experts. In reality it is a very sensible move.

The funeral will be the single biggest gathering of world leaders at one event since the funeral of Nelson Mandela in 2013. It is unlikely that there will be a similar sized gathering of leaders for one event in a similar way for many years to come. This is direct testament to both the late Queen and her legacy and influence built up over 7 decades of service. To be able to get the leaders or very senior representatives of nearly 200 nations to clear their diaries and travel across the globe for a single day’s event shows just how much esteem she was held in by others.

Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright 2023.

Planning for the event is hugely complex and requires precise timing and coordination to ensure that things do not go wrong. The first challenge is that there is only so many places to park an official jet in London or its near environs. Assuming between 120 – 150 nations attend (a not unreasonable guess), this would mean finding airports capable of handling VVIP aircraft, ranging from small executive jets up to 747s like Air Force One (and its associated support chain).

There are a finite number of airports in the London area, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, City, Farnborough and Biggin Hill are the main commercial ones, while RAF Northolt and Brize Norton can just about handle larger aircraft. There is only a finite number of locations for these places to house aircraft and handle their support requirements, which can include additional security, life support facilities and so on. There is probably not enough physical space in the greater London area to accommodate all the arriving jets, as well as their motorcades and diplomatic protocols.

Advising heads of state where possible to fly commercial makes a great deal of sense – they will be on a scheduled flight into a major airport and in doing so will have a far smoother experience – or if they do experience baggage delays, at least it will be in a comfortable space. It should not be forgotten that the Queen was a regular user of British Airways and flew them on a wide range of scheduled flights around the world as required – it should not be an issue to other leaders to emulate her behaviour. It is hardly asking people to ‘fly easyJet’ to suggest that they may have a smoother experience if they arrive on a scheduled flight.

In terms of the access to the Abbey on the day, there has been some negative comments about the use of coaches, rather than allowing cars to drop their principals off. For those unfamiliar with Westminster Abbey, it may come as a shock to learn that the ancient city planners of London did not, over 10 centuries ago, consider motorcades when planning to build their abbey. The site does not have any particularly logical drop off / pick up points where vehicles can easily and discretely be held locally at readiness.

If 150 leaders descended en masse in their vehicles, the end result would be an enormous traffic jam of cars stuck behind each other, and with no guarantee people would arrive on time. Given the principal drop off area is likely to be the entrance where the coffin of the Queen will enter the Abbey, it would be a rather embarrassing sight were her funeral to be delayed due to a backlog of global leaders being stuck in traffic. By bringing them in together, only one or two buses are needed, ensuring arrival is much smoother than would otherwise be the case.

The same is true in reverse, when on departure there would be an enormous traffic jam waiting for the pickup, and the onward short drive to Buckingham Palace for the reception, where events would, once again, repeat themselves. Coaches may seem less glamorous than rocking up in a limo, but they are an utterly essential way to ensure this event runs as plans and isn’t distracted by leaders wondering where their diplomatic-uber has gone.

Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright 2023

This pragmatic approach is vital given the sheer scale of the operation, which will stretch the Met Police to the limit of their operational capability. In less than 10 days, they ‘ve had to stand ready to deliver one of the single biggest, if not the biggest, policing events in British history, on a scale unlikely to ever be repeated. What makes this even more challenging is that this is being done alongside other major state events across the nation in the preceding days, that will stretch other Police Forces to their limits too. Nothing like this has ever been done before when it comes to delivery of so many VVIP events across the nation in such a compressed time, and with only a few days’ notice.

The success of these events falls disproportionately on the magnificent women and men who make up the ‘Thin Blue Line’ and who will have seen leave cancelled, rest days lost and will be expected to resume normal duties as soon as this is over and deliver this while still maintaining law and order across the vast metropolis of London and beyond. The British public owes an incalculable debt to those who will be giving a great deal to ensure their safety and security is paramount throughout these 10 days.

Ably supporting them will be many military personnel, drafted in at short notice to learn new roles and skills, to help support the smooth operation of the event. It is a real testament to the ‘Thin Purple Line’ that at no notice thousands of military personnel have been stood up and deployed to ensure that the proceedings are secure and memorable. The military play a crucial role in State Ceremonial functions, and the sight of the armed forces across the nation playing their part in the proclamation or providing discrete support through other taskings – from firing gun salutes to airlift to support the move of the coffin to London is critical here. Again, many of those doing this will be young, relatively junior and carry a huge burden of responsibility on their shoulders to do the nation proud. We should rightly be proud of all those, regular and reservist, who are playing a key role in this defining time.

The final group who needs to be observed are the civil servants who constitute the ‘Thin Pinstriped Line’. For decades they have planned this operation down to the minute, studying carefully how best to deliver an event that will be beamed across the world, and in ensuring that the machinery of government is able to deliver what is asked of it. Last week showed the British Civil Service at its very finest – to deliver a new Prime Minister, a new Cabinet and a new Monarch within 72hrs required exceptional skills, planning and effort.

While it may be fashionable in some quarters to bemoan the civil service, and assume they are all woke zealots who are barely working at home before off on a ‘knitting with vegan yoghurt retreat’, the reality is that the machinery of government can, and does, work incredibly well in the most complex of scenarios. No reasonable scenario could have envisaged the events of last week occurring so closely together, and it is huge testament to their skills and professionalism that even under the greatest of constitutional strains, the system delivered what was asked of it. Again, we owe the Civil Service a great deal of thanks for their efforts.

There will no doubt be some internet experts who with the benefit and hindsight of 5 minutes on google will have devised a ‘better’ way to deliver the most complex public event likely to ever happen in the United Kingdom. The reality though is that decisions are taken for very good reasons, they have been carefully planned and considered over many decades, and the system is doing what it does best – keep the ship of state on an even keel in even the stormiest of weather.