The night the Queen refused to read my book

‘So it is come at last, the distinguished thing!’ exclaimed Henry James on his deathbed. Such a thought is reflected in funerals – always more powerful than a memorial service or ‘celebration’ – because the person’s body is present. When it comes at last to Elizabeth II on Monday, it will be the most distinguished of all the ceremonies. The Household Division is in charge. It is always and only the Grenadier Guards who make up the bearer party. By then, all serving Guards officers will have stood watch over the coffin for the lying-in-state. The Guards are so called because they must guard the Sovereign in life. Their last, distinguished duty is to guard her in death.

When writing my biography of Margaret Thatcher, I talked to Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury during the Falklands war. There had been a row about the service of thanksgiving for victory, as Mrs Thatcher saw it, or reconciliation – as some of the clergy, including the Dean of St Paul’s, who conducted it, preferred. The result was an uneasy compromise. The Queen came. As she left, Runcie told me, she felt anxious that the armed forces might feel they had been denied proper thanks and therefore spiritual comfort. ‘I don’t think you should ever leave a Christian service feeling sad,’ she said to Runcie. ‘The service was not well arranged for that reason.’ Her emphasis was on the word ‘leave’. Obviously sadness is a necessary feeling when remembering death, but the desired effect is peace. She understood this deeply. I am sure Monday’s service will follow her understanding, and the congregation will depart in peace.