Monthly column on the arts

Every major news provider had an obituary on file, revised and updated every year or so as the Queen Mother's extraordinary longevity continued. She had planned her own funeral long in advance; the implications of her passing had been contemplated and discussed for decades.

The media pessimistically warned that public response would be disappointingly lukewarm. Even in the hours before her coffin was placed on its magnificent catafalque in the ancient Hall of Westminster, some commentators predicted that it would be mainly tourists who attended her lying-in-state, and speculated that its length had been deliberately kept short to avoid the embarrassment of a low turn-out. They were wrong.

Amazing life

I am writing this on the evening before her funeral. The last Empress of India lies in the solemn timeless space of the old hall of kings, itself an apt symbol of the breadth of history she represents: in this ancient hall, that saw Richard II deposed and Charles I condemned, lies a woman whom Queen Victoria cradled in her arms, who refused to leave London during the Blitz, and who by all accounts did a pretty neat Ali G impression.

A seemingly endless stream of people is moving past the flag-draped coffin, more than any commentator anticipated: 100,000 had waited several hours in line to pay their respects last time I heard a figure quoted, and the hall is to be kept open up to the last possible moment before the coffin is taken the short distance to Westminster Abbey. The Queen, in an unexpected gesture, appeared on television to thank the public 'from my heart' for the love given her mother in life and the honour given her in death.

This public death, greeted by a public response far in excess of what was expected, is different from the other deaths that have made headlines recently. In her television speech the Queen acknowledged that the loss of somebody who had lived a long and happy life (and enjoyed remarkably good health for almost all of it) was not to be compared to the tragedies and untimely deaths that touch so many lives. She wanted the funeral to be a time of thanksgiving and celebration.

An affectionate farewell

The extraordinary public response to the death of the Queen Mother leaves many questions unanswered. Perhaps the most significant is: Does this outpouring of public affection show that, after a decade truly horribilis, the monarchy is demonstrating that it has a place in national life as we enter the new millennium? Or is it merely the last affectionate farewell to a great and beloved lady, and to a lifestyle and value system that is fast disappearing from national life?

The Queen Mother was in many ways a relic of a society that died long ago. It was one reason she was so much loved. Her miraculous ability to touch people in all walks of life was not because she was one of us, but because she regarded it as duty to serve us. It was her great strength or her great weakness, depending on your view of the monarchy; in some quarters a quiet debunking of the Queen Mother has already begun.

It may be that her great wish - that her funeral will be the occasion for a recommitment and strengthening of the monarchy, whose role and functions she passionately believed in - will remain unfulfilled. Even the most fervent monarchist must be wondering what the future holds for the troubled House of Windsor.

A deep personal faith

In a nation like ours with an Established church, royalty does tend to be associated with godliness, and sometimes the connection seems a bit tenuous. But it's been deeply moving to hear so many speak of the Queen Mother's Christian faith.

The Archbishop of Canterbury used language that suggested a personal evangelical faith; the Queen spoke movingly of her mother's Christian convictions. 'Above all we remember her quiet, unshakeable faith in her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,' said the Evangelical Alliance's press release. She was, in the words of the Bible Society, 'A much loved figure who was a strong Christian'. There have been many similar comments by people who knew her personally, many by people who might reasonably be expected to recognise biblical Christianity when they saw it.

Whether or not her hope of a revived and effective monarchy is fulfilled, could it be that the Queen Mother's most significant legacy will prove to be a demonstration to millions that Christianity is still intensely relevant to modern times? The millions who observed the rituals of her death have been given plenty of testimony to the place of Jesus Christ in her life. Who knows what might come of that testimony? And who knows what might come of the fact that for so many years, God did not leave himself without witnesses, even in the very highest offices of the land?

Thank you, Ma'am

Amazing life

An affectionate farewell

A deep personal faith

David Porter

Main Articles

Other articles