When Princess Beatrice married her dashing Edoardo last summer, the contrast with the previous showy, lavish, crowd-filled, OTT affairs of sister Eugenie and, before that, cousin Harry was marked but necessary.
The country was in Covid-crisis. Minimal social gatherings were the law. The Royal Family were (are) not above the law. Bea and Ed accepted their selfless roles in wider society and didn’t pull rank. They did their duty by respecting the law and showing solidarity with those who have no rank to pull. To drive the message home, Bea symbolically wore a second-hand frock. (Yeah I know it was still one helluva frock.) In other words, the British Royal Family showed leadership and grace.
The funeral of Bea’s grandfather, Prince Philip, is being
planned in line with the current strict legal restrictions – no more than 30
guests. And crowds are being strongly advised to stay at home for their own
safety and not line the streets to witness history. Even the Prime Minister, a
shoe-in for a seat in the chapel by dint of his status, has put his own preferences
and ego to one side so that as many as possible of the Duke’s family can
attend.
Because of Philip’s popularity and the intense public grief since his death, who could have blamed the Queen if she’d bent or even broken the rules to process her devoted husband’s coffin through the streets to allow her subjects a tangible opportunity to say thank you and goodbye, pay our respects to a war hero we love and admire, show solidarity with an institution we hold dear, and to provide what comfort we can to the Queen. But she knows that her duty is to obey the law, because by doing so she is setting an example to the rest of us as well as protecting us from Covid. Again, leadership and grace.
What a contrast to the posturing funeral last June of a big wig in the IRA. A terrorist. An unrepentant murderer. It was attended, amongst others, by senior members of Sinn Féin, including Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister, whose reluctant apology after the event was as disingenuous as it was cowardly. No respect for the law that others have to obey. Actively encouraging people to put themselves in danger of Covid. Knowing full well it would prompt at least one tit-for-tat large funeral for a loyalist and inflame sectarian tensions.
No leadership. No grace. No sense of duty. No surprise.
Back to Prince Philp. He had to swallow his disgust at meeting terrorists who had murdered his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten who had helped to raise him. Also killed the same day were an elderly lady and two teenage boys, one a local lad employed as a boat hand. Several others, including two children, escaped death. Philip’s handshake with those complicit in such evil took real character and courage. Again, a true leader. Grace in the face of adversity. A real Christian.
At least our saintly Duke is spared having to encounter terrorists again in the afterlife. He’s got a fast track through the Pearly gates, whereas the others will be stoking the fires of hell for ever more.
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