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Friday
Sep082023

One year on, three days I won't forget

Today is the first anniversary of the death of the Queen. Hard to believe it’s only a year. It feels longer.

Nevertheless, for many of us, the announcement will always be a ‘Where were you?’ moment.

I was in a hotel room in Glasgow. As I explained here, I had arrived a few hours earlier, having been booked to appear live on Scotland Tonight, STV’s weekly current affairs programme.

As I was driving north there were reports that the Queen was unwell. We’d heard similar stories before but this time they were followed by news that Charles and other members of the Royal family were travelling to be with her at Balmoral, which sounded ominous.

At 4.00pm I spoke to someone at STV who told me the BBC’s presenters were already wearing black ties.

She said they would contact me if there was any more news because, if the Queen died, all scheduled programmes would be cancelled.

We now know the Queen died at ten minutes past three, but her death wasn’t announced until 6.30 when Huw Edwards appeared on screen to make the announcement on the BBC.

A few minutes later I got a call confirming that STV had cancelled Scotland Tonight as all broadcasters scrambled to ‘automated’ mode (ie programming that had been planned and rehearsed years in advance for this very moment).

I’ve written about my subsequent drive to Balmoral, via Aberdeen, two days later, so I won’t repeat that story here, but in hindsight what I remember most is how calm and peaceful everything was.

Deeside looked spectacular in the autumn sunshine and in a strange way it was an idyllic few days. Everything seemed to stop, or at least pause, for reflection while we absorbed the enormity of an historic moment, and that alone was a lovely legacy.

Sadly the tranquility didn’t last, but that’s another story.

Below: Old Aberdeen on the morning of Saturday September 10, 2022. Beautifully quiet and serene. Next stop, Balmoral.

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