Behind the Scenes
The sad ceremonies of the past few days, during which the nation and the world have watched the slow progression of the dead King from Sandringham, through the streets of London, to his brief sojourn in Westminster Hall, have been marked by an assured dignity. It would be easy to overlook the very considerable feats of organisation to which the complex arrangements involved owed their unobtrusive effi- ciency. Precedents no doubt were of some assistance in such matters as the timing of processions, the number of police required at different points and other details; but the fact remains that a vast number of unwonted actions had to be worthily performed by a wide variety of people, and it is to the greatest credit of all concerned that the whole sombre pageant was so fittingly deployed. Outside the immediate circle of the Court and the Household, on whom the heaviest burden of responsibility fell, individuals, dignitaries and insti- tutions of many kinds bore, in different parts of the country, their share in the ceremonial of mourning; and it would be wrong, in this context, to withhold a tribute from the B.B.C., whose readjustment of an entire week's programmes as well as its commentaries upon the central events of that week reflected high credit both on its efficiency and its good taste.
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