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American Morning

Queen Mother Being Remembered Today in London

Aired April 05, 2002 - 07:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The Queen Mother is being remembered today in London. A ceremonial procession weaving through streets of London, as the coffin carrying the Queen Mother was moved by horse and carriage to Westminster Hall. It will lie in state there, where the public will be allowed to pay their last respects this weekend.

For more on the procession, we are joined now by CNN's Richard Quest live in London -- good morning, Richard.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Jack.

It's not every day that you see a sight and the size and the grand scale of this sort of procession. But then the royal family and the establishment of Britain was determined this was going to be a grand sendoff for the Queen Mum.

The coffin was carried in traditional fashion, on a gun carriage through the streets of London from St. James's Palace, where she's been resting and being -- the respects of the royal family have been paid in a very solemn, slow procession, with members of the royal family and armed forces at the various sides of the gun carriage, and 1,600 members of the armed forces behind. Behind the coffin - immediately behind - were the princes. Prince Charles, obviously; Prince Andrew; Prince Edward, the Count of Wessex - the Earl of Wessex; and then, of course, Princess Anne.

Now she had had to ask for specific permission. Normally, it's only the men that walk behind the coffin. But the queen agreed to let Anne go along as well today. And also Prince William and Prince Harry, and what memories this must have been for them. Only five years ago walking this exact same route behind the coffin and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of their mother, Diana, Princess of Whales.

So it was not just a solemn day of music and pageantry, but also a day of celebration of the life of the Queen Mother, Jack. And now the body and the coffin is resting in Westminster Hall, where there will be three days when basically ordinary members of the public can pay their respects before the grand funeral in Westminster Abbey.

And, Jack, finally, you know, in this whole thought of royal pageantry and grand ceremony, what today was really all about was allowing as many people as possible - and there were tens of thousands on the streets in London -- allowing as many people as possible to say their final good-byes. To see the coffin, to see the crown that the Queen Mother war on her coronation all those years ago -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: She was obviously much beloved by the people of Britain. I'm just curious, Richard. You have lived there and have watched the comings and goings of the royal family over part of your career as a journalist. How did the Queen Mother respond to the - the tabloids' continuous fascination with the trials and tribulations of the other members of the royal family? They were always in the gossip columns, always in the tabloids for something.

And I just wondered what her view of all of that might have been.

QUEST: The extraordinary thing about the Queen Mother -- and remember she was from a different generation. A generation that believed you didn't show your emotions in public, like the queen. You don't show your emotions in public, you don't give anything away. So we never knew what she really thought about all of that.

But perhaps the biggest tribute I can tell you is that there are hundreds, if not thousands of people, now waiting - lining up to pay their personal tribute to the Queen Mother -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: All right. Thank you very much, Richard Quest, live in London -- Paula.

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