What makes an event great?

Eleven days. 96 years, and eleven days.

I will confess, I am a bit of a royalty freak, even though not being British nor politically inclined to monarchy. But I do follow the news and the life of this type of ‘celebrity’ – the royals.

My point today though, is not to discuss my admiration for The Queen. I just figured, the best homage I can make to this amazing woman is to analyse her funeral, from – you guessed it – the events manager point of view.

First, let’s get this out of the way: it was beautiful, it was sad, it was (to quote a British friend) ‘fitting’. Fitting of her life and her importance, fitting on how it will go down in history: a major funeral for a major Queen.

Like her or not, we from all over the world could see the UK stopped – to cry, to see her coffin and to pay respects.

Why? Because the event created around her death – to celebrate her life – demanded it.  

So now we go into details. Why were things so perfect and so in place? Because the royal team knew the key mantra of event organizers – PREPARATION, PREPARATION, PREPARATION.  

Did you know that her funeral plans were revised every 6 months? Did you know she personally picked the songs that her (favourite) bagpiper would play? That means, nothing was decided last minute. It was all set and prepared, so when it came to execution time, it was an ‘easy’ job (oooppsss, there is no easy event so I apologize for that!)

Second key lesson we need to observe from this event: is all about the details!

Did you know that every flower that was on the bouquet seating on top of her coffin had a meaning? Every single one, including myrtle that was grown from the same myrtle the Queen carried in her wedding bouquet when she married Prince Philip in 1947. Or did you notice that Charlotte’s coat had a jewellery broach in a shoe horse shape, to remind her of her shared love of horses with her grandmother? Yes, details. Details in events are actually those thing you are not sure you pay attention (as a guest) but you leave the event with a certain feeling. Like careful people that personalize dinner table settings for a small group at home. It’s careful, and delicate. Details.

The third thing, is the most obvious one for royal event organizers, but unfortunately not always obvious to all event professionals: protocol. There were so many elements, from the types of transport, to greetings, to seating charts. There is no guessing, there is protocol. Protocol is beautiful and leaves little room for event discussions, it just needs to be stablished and implemented. Again, for the royal family, some were stablished for years. For us mere mortals, not all things are so clear, but once you start setting protocols for your activations, the easier it is to implement a certain order on your event day.

Apart from this 3 points, I think there is something else that the organizers got it right. There were modern touches. I am a big fan of new ideas and pushing the limits of events (my poor bosses can tell you how much I push for those!), but I am also the first to know that there is a limit of what you can try tastefully without losing your original event idea in innovation. The broadcasting itself was already a step forward for this historic group, with full media quarters installed by Westminster Abbey. Also, the late monarch had a long-standing relationship with the Royal Navy and was carried by 98 sailors during this historic procession, with women being part of this military team. How is that for a last message of this powerful lady?

All in all, I will reinstate my point. This event was not about the loss of a person but about a rite of passage that should have honoured her life but remind us all monarchy goes on, without leaving the public with this feeling that something was over. It did that. We – wherever we were – felt we participated, felt there was something ‘for us’ in the event. And that’s what a great event should do.