The elaborate ceremonies held since the Queen’s death have been breathtaking in their magnificence and grandeur.
The Accession Council to proclaim King Charles. The thanksgiving service at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. The poignant procession as Her Majesty was laid in state.
But even these will be eclipsed by Elizabeth II’s state funeral. The most spellbinding and distinguished of all the occasions, it will truly be fit for a Queen.
The greatest constitutional monarch this country – indeed, the world – has seen, she performed her challenging and demanding role faithfully and devotedly for 70 years. This is the least we can do for her.
The elaborate ceremonies held since the Queen’s death have been breathtaking in their magnificence and grandeur
The late monarch’s coffin will be borne on a 123-year-old gun carriage for a powerfully symbolic ceremony at Westminster Abbey, before she makes her final journey to Windsor Castle, where she will be buried alongside her beloved husband Philip.
The logistics, of course, will be formidable. But in a victory for common sense, officials have decreed that the Queen’s coffin will take byroads, not the motorway, to her resting place, giving hundreds of thousands more a chance to line the route.
With 30-hour queues to file past her coffin at Westminster Hall, and millions cramming into London for the funeral, many wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to say farewell.
By pragmatically amending arrangements, it means if mourners cannot go to the monarch, she can come to more of them.
The thanksgiving service at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. The poignant procession as Her Majesty was laid in state. But even these will be eclipsed by Elizabeth II’s state funeral. The most spellbinding and distinguished of all the occasions, it will truly be fit for a Queen
Scrap the bonus cap
On the face of it, there is bad timing, worse timing and the Chancellor saying he wants to scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses.
With families being pummelled by the cost of living crisis and the Government urging pay restraint, the plan seems like a PR disaster.
Not long ago, bankers’ reckless greed brought Britain’s financial services to the brink of collapse, so queasiness at them again being allowed to shamelessly plunder vast rewards is understandable.
But if Kwasi Kwarteng is determined to hit the accelerator on growth, he must improve the City’s global competitiveness.
By unshackling it from EU bonus-capping regulations, the Treasury will make the Square Mile more attractive to international talent and investment – ultimately making us more prosperous.
Yes, critics warn that uncapped bonuses could lead to the kind of excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crash. But new and tougher penalties should deter irresponsibility and misconduct.
Mr Kwarteng should ignore the Left’s outraged howls and dig his heels in on this policy. His job is to make the right calls for the economy – not to wilt before banker-bashing populism.
If Kwasi Kwarteng is determined to hit the accelerator on growth, he must improve the City’s global competitiveness
The New York Whines
Like a demented stalker, the once-esteemed New York Times newspaper has a very unhealthy obsession with Britain.
Ever since we voted for Brexit, the sanctimonious Left-wing rag has launched a fusillade of gratuitous attacks against us.
In a litany of laughably negative stories, it says we dine out on boiled mutton, huddle round bin fires for warmth – and we’re so racist we drove out Meghan.
The Grey Lady’s even turned her ghoulish gaze on the Queen, poisonously – and falsely – denouncing the dead monarch as a symbol of colonialism.
Now it moans that UK taxpayers struggling to heat homes must foot the bill for the state funeral for… the head of state. What an amazing scoop!
What sticks in the craw is the paper’s sickening hypocrisy. Firstly, American taxpayers themselves are paying huge sums to fly President Biden here for the service.
And second, how has it the audacity to portray Britain as a Dickensian dystopia, when swathes of the US are crime-plagued, poverty-stricken, racially-riven hellholes?