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 here has never been any doubt in my mind that the British are the best in the world at ceremonial events and seeing two recently has confirmed my opinion. The State Opening of Parliament in May – at which the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall accompanied the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh for the first time – and the ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle for the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the start of his state visit, were both splendid occasions.
Britain’s close links with the UAE were praised by the Queen at a state luncheon in the Waterloo Chamber. Magnificent without doubt, but it was the horses and cavalrymen, including the Sovereign’s Escort and the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, trotting around the medieval quadrangle in perfect formation, which really impressed me.
This month sees the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. Her Majesty, Prince Philip and other members of the royal family will attend a service of celebration at Westminster Abbey. Sixty years ago, 7,500 people were present in the abbey and several million witnessed the service on television, the first time they had seen such a broadcast.
Correspondents inside the abbey marvelled at the magnificence of the ‘solid phalanx of peeresses collectively radiant in their crimson robes’. And when the Queen was crowned ‘they lifted their white gloved arms to put on their coronets so simultaneously they might have been drilled by a sergeant major’.
At last the Queen has agreed to a review of her long-haul travel arrangements, and so Prince Charles will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka in November in her place. The abdication of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has prompted the debate over whether the Queen would follow the example of her Dutch counterpart. But Elizabeth II was anointed on 2 June 1953 and as far as she is concerned will reign until the very end of her life.
With so much talk about royal babies I should mention that the beautiful actress Sophie Winkleman and her husband Lord Frederick Windsor are also expecting their first child. He or she is due to be born in Los Angeles on 8 August. Proud grandparents-in-waiting Prince and Princess Michael of Kent will travel out for the birth and hope to get the busy couple back to London for a christening later in the year.
Talented Sophie, who played Ashton Kutcher’s girlfriend in the American sitcom Two and a Half Men, has been commissioned to write a fully-financed film script, which works perfectly with her pregnancy and early motherhood rather than being in front of the camera.
Like Kate and William, Sophie and Freddie (who is entitled to two weeks paternity leave from his bank) decided not to find out the sex of their unborn child. In these days of instant knowledge it is charming that some couples still prefer to have a surprise and resist being told.
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