An honour of a lifetime: Marching for Her Majesty
Able Seaman Tristan, shares his experience of preparing for Her Majesty The Queen’s funeral.
In his day job, AB (Diver) Tristan is an instructor at the Defence Diving School, Portsmouth. He’s been in the Royal Navy for ten years, completing two tours on HMS Queen Elizabeth to the Gulf and USA. He volunteered to be part of HM The Queen’s procession to Westminster Hall on Wednesday and is one of two divers in the whole parade.
Can you tell us about your role?
“I’m in the parade, part of the general troops in the guard of honour. I haven’t done any ceremony before this, this is my first time.
“I’m quite proud to be representing the Navy and my branch. I’m the only diver that’s within the guard of honour, and one of two divers in the whole parade.”
Where have you served?
“I’ve served on mine hunters HMS February and HMS Middleton. And then after my time with them, I did underwater bomb disposal.The”
How do you handle the pressure?
“I hope quite well!”
What kind of preparation has gone into this?
“I joined on HMS Excellent on Friday, had my uniform checked and then started training from Friday afternoon! It’s been pretty much all day, starting at 0800 to 1800. It depends what we’re doing — but they’ve been letting us get some sleep!
“I learned to march in the Royal Navy about 10 years ago — you still have a good standard because you’re in the Navy. I haven’t done much marching since so yeah, probably a little bit of relearning!”
What does it mean for you to take part?
“It is just an honour to be able to do this. It makes me quite proud to be able to represent everything and that. And yeah, my family will definitely be watching.
“There’s a little bit of pressure being one of two divers — my whole branch is probably going to be watching and trying to pick up something that I do wrong!”
To read more about the UK Armed Forces’ involvement in commemorating the life of The Queen, head to:
