Heralds' Diary Thursday 15th September 2022

 Shortly after midnight on Thursday 15th September, we left our hotel to collect our English brethren from the College of Arms before driving, with the now familiar restrictions, to St James's Palace where we transferred to another bus which was already inside the security cordon.

This took us the Palace of Westminster, brightly lit by a benevolent moon:

The huge crowds queuing to pay their respects remained in a dignifed silence, although some had been waiting many, many hours. We went into the Palace Yard which resembled the preparations for mediaeval warfare with all the various groups of soldiers, officials, Archers and ourselves busily getting into formation. We rehearsed marching with the coffin, the gun carriage pulled by a  large number of naval ratings using a kind of webbed rope structure.  We led the procession round the corner and into the Abbey.

The whole procession then re-formed and we headed off for the long walk, the band playing Walch, Beethoven and Chopin's funeral marches, down the Mall, past Buckingham Palace and on up to Wellington Arch, from where the coffin will depart by hearse to Windsor.  

Due again to the difficulties of negotiating the streets of London at the moment, it was well after 6a.m. before we were able to regain our hotel; indeed, our stalwart procession leaders, March and Falkland, went back to the College of Arms for the debriefing wwhich they could report to us later, and breakfast kindly offered by our London confrères.

One of the memorable things of the week has been the roll call every time we get on a bus or arrive anywhere. The litany goes:

March, Falkland, Linlithgow, Unicorn, Ormond, Carrick, Portcullis, Bluemantle, Rouge Dragon, Wales, Norfolk, Maltravers, Rothesay, Marchmont, Windsor, York, Richmond, Norroy, Lyon, Clarenceux, Garter.