Kittyhawk has made her last flight. The most travelled king in history arrived at his last airport at 6:55 yesterday night, at least on this planet.
A huge aircraft to transport such a little coffin, the Queen’s RAF C-17 dwarfed everything in its path as it touched down at RAF Northolt. A more priceless burden has it ever been carried?
This aircraft had the call sign Kittyhawk, same as every other flight carrying the Queen. That stirring signal won’t be heard by air traffic control any more.
The Princess Royal, the outstanding royal heroine of recent times, was at her mother’s side as usual.
When the Queen returned to London from her beloved Scotland, where East Lothian was practically shining in the late afternoon light, she discovered that the massive crowds that have continued to provide her family such comfort had not been deterred by the nighttime rain (if not the authorities).
She was sleeping at Buckingham Palace last night. It was incredible to think that this was her last night in the structure that had defined her whole existence, especially despite the recent occurrences.
She has appeared on that balcony in every stage of her 96 years, from little girl to wartime subaltern to stunning bride and Coronation Queen, up until this summer.
In those lavishly adorned chambers, she had hosted just about every key person in post-war history.
The evening she spent there yesterday, though, with only a small group of the people who knew and loved her best, cannot have been any more historically significant or poignant.
Of course, it was a night filled with a feeling of finality, but it was also a type of first.
The elegant centre of the palace’s “semi-state apartments,” the Bow Room, which looks out into the garden, is a fair bet to suggest the Queen has never previously spent the night there.
This morning, when the Palace staff has the opportunity to pay their own farewell to a leader who was regarded and even loved by everybody, her casket will remain “at rest” there.
The Queen will leave the palace for the last time this afternoon as her coffin departs with all the grandeur the country can manage, her loved ones trailing behind. Then the full obsequies of state start, and the 2,000-year-old ceremonial machinery takes control.
Officially speaking, last night was a “operational” return from Edinburgh to London. It wasn’t even intended to be a big event. Yet it was just as theatrical and emotionally packed as any of the greatest state entrances of the period.
They knelt, wept, applauded, and even threw a rose into her path as they followed her from RAF Northolt to the Palace.
Who could have anticipated throngs ten thick outside Ealing’s drive-thru KFC? As commuters abandoned their vehicles to climb the central reservation and salute, westbound traffic on the A40 just came to a complete stop. The throng and shouts increased in size and volume as she approached. The walkways were at capacity beyond Paddington Station, a word we have heard quite a bit lately.
As she went down Park Lane and passed by the location of her childhood house on Piccadilly, the journey grew more opulent (she loved it there, and hated the move across to Buckingham Palace).
We heard whistles of gratitude as well as applauding and shouting as the hearse approached the Palace.
The fact that there is still no established way to honour Her Late Majesty is remarkable. It’s up to you whether you want to mourn her or enjoy her.
However, her long trip across her realm is finally complete. The biggest send-off in history may now commence in all its splendour.