The UK still leads the world in magnificent final farewells to its leaders
State funerals say a lot about the country in which they take place — and one of the things in which Britain still indisputably leads the world are the magnificent final farewells that it arranges for its leaders.
How very different are some of the send-offs seen in less fortunate lands. When Stalin died in 1953, hundreds, possibly thousands, were added to the toll of his victims when they were fatally crushed lining up in Moscow to view the dead Soviet dictator. In 1989, after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in revolutionary Iran, the chaotic funeral culminated in the dead Supreme Leader’s body actually falling out of its coffin, while Revolutionary Guards fired into the crowd of more than a million mourners, killing at least eight. In Britain, in stark contrast, the funerary rituals are so meticulously planned and rehearsed that it seems shocking and makes headlines if a lone anti-monarchist shouts a disobliging comment or holds up a blank placard.
I don’t consider myself a Monarchist but as with so many I did admire the steadfast Queen Elizabeth.
Regardless of our personal opinions of the institution there is no question that Elizabeth served her nation and the commonwealth in exemplary fashion.
I am saddened at her passing but history will remember her well.
