The Queen saw the planes before we heard them roaring up The Mall behind us. From the balcony of Buckingham Palace she had the best view, of course, and when she lifted her eyes to the skies we knew to look over our shoulders. Then they were upon us and the Queen was smiling.
Without her husband at her side, the climax of the Jubilee celebrations must have been a day of mixed emotions. But when these doughty veterans of the Second World War flew over she flashed the broadest smile of her appearance on the balcony and pointed at the sky as if to say: “Aren’t they great?” One indomitable servant of the nation returning the salute being given by others.
There had been concerns that the flypast by the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Red Arrows might be affected by the weather. At her Coronation the flypast was delayed by the elements, and the flypast over Tower Bridge planned for Sunday’s river pageant was cancelled.
With what looked like cruel timing it began to rain a few minutes before the royal party were scheduled to appear but, thankfully, the conditions did not deteriorate badly enough for the RAF to cancel.
The Queen has seen many flypasts, including one to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee at Windsor last month. At her Golden Jubilee in 2002, Concorde streaked over the Palace ahead of the Red Arrows. The Queen witnesses many events in the line of duty, but she seems genuinely to enjoy the thrill of warplanes roaring overhead in her honour.
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Yesterday a Dakota military transport plane, flanked by two King Air training aircraft, led the flypast, followed by a thundering Lancaster bomber, a Hurricane and four Spitfires. Nine Red Arrows brought up the rear, issuing a trail of red, white and blue smoke.
Squadron Leader Jim Turner, who led the Red Arrows in Red 1, said that his team were “all extremely proud to be part of this auspicious event”.
The officer in charge of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Squadron Leader Ian Smith, said that the RAF was “enormously proud of its heritage, and the opportunity to fly over Buckingham Palace for Her Majesty is something that will remain with us for the rest of our lives”.
Afterwards the Queen’s Guard gave a Feu de Joie on the Buckingham Palace forecourt; a celebratory cascade of rifle fire interspersed with the National Anthem.
This had happened only once before, at the parade in 2006 to celebrate her birthday. A source who was closely involved in the organisation of this year’s event said that she had been “quite alarmed” on the previous occasion.
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Some of us standing in front of the Palace flinched when the first salvo was fired. The Queen — who admittedly had the benefit of being able to hear the commanding officer shout “fire” — took it all in her stride, just as she has everything else that the heavens have thrown at her over the past few days.
But after the third salvo she smiled and muttered what looked like a wry aside to Prince William.