I had lunch with the Queen yesterday. I was not alone, you understand. There were 449 other guests. We were all in the magnificent Egyptian Hall in Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. (The Lord Mayor is not to be confused with the London Mayor, who is the elected Mayor for the whole of London. The Lord Mayor is an annually appointed Mayor of the City of London, the financial district, the so-called Square Mile. London is a city of 32 boroughs, each with their own borough council. One of the boroughs is the City of London and another is the City of Westminster. The City of Westminster also has a Lord Mayor. Alles klar?)

Anyway, to get back to my story. Yesterday the national service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the 80th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II took place in the wonderful setting of St Paul’s Cathedral. I had the great honour of representing the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the UK at the service and took part in a procession of non-Christian faith representatives before the service began.

If there’s one thing the British do well, it is ceremonial. And this was a service with much ceremony. So much so, in fact, that the Cathedral provided us with a 12-page A4 book giving the times and make-up of the processions, the times of departure of the various members of the Royal Family from their respective residences and of their arrival at St Paul’s; and there were detailed directions for the different bits of ceremonial that took place throughout the service. How about this for a sample:

10.50 a.m. The Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard leave the North steps leading from the Crypt and move by way of the North Nave Aisle to take up their positions at the West End of the Cathedral.

Her Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms follow the Yeomen of the Guard and then proceed by way of the Centre Aisle to take up their positions under the Dome.

10.55 a.m. The Lord Mayor, accompanied by the Sheriffs of London, arrives at the bottom of the steps and is received at the West Door by the Dean and Chapter. The Sheriffs are virged to their seats in the South Cross benches.

10.59 a.m. The Procession of World Faiths Representatives leaves the Minor Canons’ Aisle and moves by way of the back of the Dome to places in the North Cross Benches.

These representatives comprised the Chief Rabbi and representatives of the Muslim College, the Network of Sikh Organizations, the Zoroastrian Association in Europe, the London Buddhist Vihara, the Jain Academy, and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of the United Kingdom.

Wonderful stuff. And the service included a couple of my favourite hymns (I was brought up in the Church of England before I became a Baha’i). There was food for the ears - the bellowing organ and the Band of the Grenadier Guards, the combined choirs of St Paul’s Cathedral and the Children of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal. And us, the congregation.

The processions of choirs and priests, the Lord Bishop of London, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Royal Family, all reminded me of that wonderful story from Baha’u'llah’s childhood, when He saw the puppet show at His half-brother’s wedding celebrations. After the show was over, Baha’u'llah asked the puppet master where all the puppets, the Shah, the Sultan, the soldiers, were. The puppet master pointed to a wooden chest. At that point, Baha’u'llah realizes that all the pomp and circumstance of the world are transient and worth nothing in the eye of God.

One of the bounties of being a non-Christian faith representative at these affairs is that we always get the best seats, from where we can see the Queen and Prince Phillip and the members of the Royal Family: Prince Charles and Princes William and Harry; the Princess Royal; the Duke of York and Princess Beatrice…

After the service, we streamed out through the doors of St Paul’s into the warm sunshine. Those who had been invited to lunch were ushered into coaches (not horse-drawn, unfortunately) and driven the short distance to Mansion House, where we were guests of the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London.

Luncheon opened with fanfares by the State Trumpeters of the Blues and Royals, speeches from the Lord Mayor, Her Majesty, and the Prime Minister. The Queen was in good form, clearly happy and relaxed. As we ate - the menu had been chosen by a competition on the BBC between various celebrity chefs - an ensemble from the Honourable Artillery Company played a selection of light music.

You can read an account of this wonderful day on the BBC News website.

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