Much like the day on The Mall, the day of the funeral was another early start having stayed in the city overnight so I could get to the Queen Victoria Memorial (opposite Buckingham Palace) at 7am (ish). Then followed a another (less) long wait for the event to unfold.

Being a photographer is not about just waiting for the event to start, it’s about being aware of all that is happening around you. I noticed a young girl quite a way down the Mall stroking a white police horse, taking the image below on the 150-600. I posted the image on instagram and a few days later, received a message.

“The horse is called Verdun, his stable name is Dave, he is stabled at Bow Road Stables and came to the met after he was fired by the army for being naughty! As you can see he much prefers being a police horse! 

I work at bow , all the officers at bow and I have admired your photo , I just thought you would like some background”

I cannot help thinking this is the same horse that I photographed on the first day outside the palace and who I posted in the first post.

There were 2 sets of photographers on the QVM. One set to photograph the procession coming down The Mall towards the palace and another (where I was positioned) to record the late majesty Queen Elizabeth passing the palace for the last time.

During the morning, the guards positioned themselves and the palace staff created a line in front of the palace to pay their respects one last time.

Of course I took any images of the procession but the one we were really here to capture was the coffin passing the palace for the last time as The kings troop lowered their standard in front of the palace

And of course the wide view..

My overriding memory of the day is the haunting silence. I have been in London for 1 minute silences before (for example remembrance day) but the 2 minute silence that morning really was silent, I’m not sure I’ll ever experience that in the centre of London again, even the birds seemed silent.

This last post in the series is a little late – I managed to write the others whilst away working but my last week of work – at the Conservative Party conference was just a bit to manic to sit down and write. The next post will go into those two weeks and the using the 150-600 a little more.

I end with my last view of the late HM Queen as her coffin left my view…..