Adventures of a Queen's Scout: The Cenotaph

We join the story shortly before last weekend. Having been awarded my Queen's Scout award I've been invited to take part in the Queen's Scout Honour Gaurd at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.

So, last Thursday, I drove up to London for a rehearsal at Whitehall, which outlined the tasks we would have on the day, and provided an introduction to the other Queen's Scouts taking part. We met up on Whitehall mid-evening to be escorted inside the Foreign & Commonwealth Offices where we wandered around uncertainly before finding the room we'd been allocated to leave our stuff in. The briefing that followed explained the tasks that we'd have three days later, namely handing out programmes to members of the public that were arriving to see the ceremony, and forming up outside the offices, right in front of the Cenotaph.

The latter turned out to be very simple — we had to form up just inside the building, march outside and then stand still as the dignitaries walked past on their way out. We practised this a few times in a corridor before moving out on to the pavement to confuse any late-night tourists, and soon mastered the manoeuvres.

Bright and early on Sunday morning (and chilly at 8:30am!) we again met outside the Foreign and Commonwealth office to make our way inside. After heading outside with large stacks of orders of service, it became clear just how many people would be attending. The number of people already present on Whitehall at 9am was quite remarkable, and by an hour later it was certainly filling up. The trick, it emerged, was to wait by the entrances to hand out the programmes as people arrived, rather than trying to hand them out to the few people in the crowds that might not already have one.

Shortly after 10am we had to be back inside the offices so that the Armed Forces could begin forming up at the Cenotaph, and so that we could be in place for the start of the ceremony. There was also a chance for a quick drink and biscuits before we had to get ready for the more formal part of our duties.

Following some initial confusion about where we should be forming up, we were eventually given the nod that we should begin marching outside. We were the first to emerge from the building into the morning sunlight, which was thankfully beginning to warm things up a bit. Not long after, the choristers and the Lord Bishop of London followed us out, signalling the start of the emergence of the dignitaries. This was pretty much the start of the ceremony, and is captured on TV (of course), and if you've got access to iplayer then you can start watching along.

Despite having known all along that there would be highly important people walking right past me, I don't think that it was until the politicians, led by David Cameron, were walking past that this really hit home. I think my thoughts were approximately:

Cameron... (woah, that's the actual prime minister) Clegg.. (they really do look like their photos) more politicians.. (hrm this is a bit serious) politicians.. politicians.. politicians.. Oh, look, it's Boris!

The politicians were followed by other dignitaries, and eventually the Royal party, lead by the Queen. It was quite a remarkable experience to see the Royal family walk literally a couple of feet in front of me. Of course their arrival signalled that it was nearly 11 o'clock, and time for the 2 minutes silence. Even having been warned that there would be a loud bang when the artillery gun on Horse Guards Parade would be fired to coincide with Big Ben's chime of 11, but nothing quite prepares you for just how loud and thunderous it is (it may sound loud on the TV, but trust me, that doesn't get close).

Following the silence, the wreath laying and the short service lead by the Lord Bishop the dignitaries headed back into the Foreign & Commonwealth Offices. The Honour Guard is the last to re-enter the building, in many ways it was good to be "off the hook" as we disappeared from public view, but it was also sad as it signalled the end of a unique experience.

Adventures of a Queen's Scout: Journey to the center of London

Back when I was at school, everyone did the Duke of Edinburgh's Silver, it was just expected. DOE Gold was offered, and each year some sixth-formers went for it. Having been a cub and then a scout, and having completed by Explorer Belt a few years earlier, it seemed the natural thing to progress into. One of the teachers suggested that we try doing it in Kayaks, rather than walking, which turned out to be a great fun. We ended up spending a week exploring the river Allier, in the South of France, for a week. The only downside to this mode of travel was that the nights were a little cold, though that is to be expected and balanced out the glorious sunshine we had during the days.

I didn't actually end up completing my DOE Gold until the summer after my A-Levels, when I spent a week on residential with a friend from scouts rebuilding the stone path down to Dancing Ledge in South Dorset. This complicated getting everything signed off, and I eventually got everything sorted and went to St James' Palace for a presentation in the summer of 2009, where we were graced by the Duke of Edinburgh himself. Amusingly, the Duke recognised the Gold broach my mum, who was among the guests present, was wearing as being her DOE Gold award, and commented on it.

Fast forward to this Easter, when I was invited to attend the Queen's Scout parade at Windsor. This is the formal, pomp-and-circumstance, part of the award being conferred, and collects all the recent Queen's Scouts from around the country to parade with a military band inside Windsor Castle. There, the Chief Scout (currently Bear Grylls) and a representative of the Royal family congratulate each of the scouts and take a marching salute from each of the regional groups. This is, in many ways, a more interesting ceremony than the local part where you are actually given the badges and certificate which confer the award.

I managed to arrange for my award ceremony to take place at the end of an otherwise (mostly) ordinary meeting at the start of the new term of my home scout group, First Ealing North. At the end of the meeting we presented a large number of badges to the scouts that had earned them towards the end of the previous term, or had had them signed off during our Summer Camp. There were a surprisingly large number of badges, and it took quite a while. This culminated with our County Commissioner presenting me with my Queen's Scout certificate and asking some questions about the things I had done, and encouraging all the scouts present to pursue their own awards. Afterwards, one of the things that he mentioned was that there was an opportunity for Queen's Scouts from the London counties to be a part of the Honour Guard at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. Since was a remarkable honour and literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I asked him to put my name down for inclusion, and I was lucky enough to be asked to take part by the organisers.

Continued in Part 2: The Cenotaph...