EDITORIAL – Queen’s funeral was spectacular, and it proved something

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.                               

IF YOU MISSED the Queen’s funeral yesterday, you should kick yourself.

Not just because she deserves our respect. I’m talking about the pomp and circumstance of it all.

It was solemn yet uplifting. It was spectacular, entertaining, even inspiring.

Maybe you couldn’t bring yourself to wake up at 2 in the morning and watch the telly for several hours. Maybe you just weren’t interested.

But I’m telling you, it was worth watching. Choreographing the thousands of participants was an achievement eclipsing anything that Broadway or Cirque du Soleil could ever pull off, many times over.
Just the slow march itself was worth it — how could so many stay so perfectly in step the entire miles-long trek to the Queen’s final resting place?

And the colour — all those red uniforms and the glorious head gear, the Royal blue, gold and purple standards and paraphernalia.

And the sounds. Bag pipes, the beating of footsteps, the clatter of horses’ hooves; inside, the choir and the trumpets. Sometimes, just silence.

And how about the pallbearers? What stalwart duty they did.

Maybe you’ve seen some of the replays on TV news and that’s better than nothing but it can’t match the feeling of watching it live.

There was another very important achievement behind the scenes. There were no reported attempts at serious terrorist attacks on any part of the funeral, though there were some arrests.

Certainly, there were several thousand extra police on duty, and security had been meticulously planned for years. Every conceivable type of attack was considered. Snipers and helicopters kept close watch.

No small feat, but it proved we can go outside for a major event and be safe. The bad guys don’t always win.

And, by the way, the Ottawa and Victoria versions of the Day of Mourning were good to see, too, and special thanks go to the Royal Canadian Legion for making sure Kamloops played a part with its own ceremony.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.