Queens' visit to Number 10

Sketch: The Cabinet show the Queen they know their placemats


Michael Deacon follows the excitement in Westminster as the Queen visits Number 10 to observe a Cabinet meeting.









The Queen observed a Cabinet meeting alongside the Prime Minister.




By Michael Deacon, Parliamentary Sketchwriter

4:33PM GMT 18 Dec 2012





Some commentators scoffed at the gifts the Queen received on her visit to Westminster, but to be fair, none of us has seen Her Majesty’s list to Father Christmas. For all we know it said, “Dear Santa: 60 placemats, a scrap of frozen wasteland plus a guided tour of the Foreign Office by William Hague, please.” She may well be very happy.


Even if not, we all know how hard it can be to buy for the older woman. At the height of his success Rod Stewart told his mother she could have anything she wanted for Christmas, money no object. After deep thought she said, “Well, I could do with a new bread bin.”


In honour of her Diamond Jubilee, Her Majesty was in Downing Street for what the Prime Minister doubtless imagined to be a special treat. TV reporters, awaiting her arrival, skilfully filled time by providing viewers with a wealth of important information. “The red carpet there… looking very clean… it’s had the Downing Street brush treatment…”


Finally she put them out of their misery, and was greeted by David Cameron at the door of Number 10. Microphones didn’t pick up what they said, so we can only speculate. (Cameron to Queen: “Have you come far?” Queen to Cameron: “And what do you do?”)


Indoors the Cabinet were all standing proudly in line, shoes gleaming, postures straight, looking a bit like a squad of retired footballers wheeled out onto the Wembley pitch to mark the anniversary of some distant cup win.



18 Dec 2012

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  Cabinet gives Queen 60 placemats
  18 Dec 2012
  

As the Queen made her way down the line each bowed or curtseyed. Jeremy Hunt, perhaps a touch over-excited, bowed so deeply and with such force that he was an inch from headbutting her. Mr Hunt has survived setbacks in his career but even his powers of political recovery might be tested by an assault on an 86-year-old monarch.

Now the Queen attended Cabinet. Interestingly each place had a name card facing away from it, including “The Prime Minister” and “Her Majesty the Queen”, perhaps as an aid to anyone round the table unfamiliar with them. Everyone on TV talked about what a historic moment it was. “Hugely symbolic pictures of her sitting down,” raved a presenter on BBC News.

Cameras were permitted to film while the Chief Whip spoke about the Royal succession bill. Then the live feed was cut. “She was about to be told the economic news,” said the man on the BBC, “which is possibly why we were told to leave the room.”

As always when the Queen is involved, pundits demonstrated their expertise in telepathy. A man on Sky News said she was “fascinated to be there” (cut to shot of the Queen looking deeply unfascinated). A man on the BBC divined that she had “digested everything going on around her”.

Her Majesty departed a third of the way through the 90-minute Cabinet meeting, no doubt to envious glances. Probably she just couldn’t wait to get home and play with her placemats

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I like the Reporters' sense of humour.