Royal visit: Queen Elizabeth, wearing a gorgeous ball gown, and Prince Philip arriving at a gala in Lahore in 1961. – Agencies
NO monarch in history could have planned their own funeral in such detail (as Queen Elizabeth II did), and no subjects could have executed it with such dignified finesse. The Incas had their rituals, the Chinese their Ming mounds and terracotta warriors, the ancient Egyptians their pyramids and gilded sarcophagi, but no ruler has been laid to rest so publicly, with so much respect and genuine regard.
From the moment her cortege left Balmoral Castle until her final interment in Windsor 10 days later, there was not a moment when cameras were not trained on her coffin or her grieving family. She had spent her life in the glare of the media’s gaze. That relentless intrusion continued until her coffin sank into the royal vault.
