Two fathers had been on responsibility with their sons guarding the Queen’s coffin in the identical ceremonial watch in Westminster Corridor on Friday afternoon, in what’s believed to be a historic first, writes Christopher Hope, our Affiliate Editor.
Colonel Peter MacMullen, 53, Lieutenant George MacMullen, 24 from the Irish Guards had been a part of the 30-strong watch with Captain Richard Trant, 26, additionally from the Irish Guards, and Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Richard Trant, 56, one of many Gents at Arms who formally served with the Queen’s Royal Lancers.
Col MacMullen stated it had been “principally luck and probability” that the 2 pairs of fathers and sons had been among the many 30 troopers on the identical watch over the coffin, draped within the royal customary, within the Parliament’s Westminster Corridor. The watch was divided into particulars, which every stood on responsibility for 20 minutes within the Corridor each hour.
Col MacMullen, who had been the officer in command of one element whereas his son George stood on the catafalque, instructed The Every day Telegraph: “When you’re on the catafalque you may’t see a lot, you’re actually concentrating on trying down so you do not actually discover.
“As officer in command of the watch I stood up on the balcony and gave the instructions, you then see the complete panoply of everybody coming previous and you may actually take it in. It was fairly extraordinary.”