Local officers made up Guard of Honour at Her Majesty's funeral
Officers from Thames Valley Police were part of the Guard of Honour that escorted Queen Elizabeth's coffin into the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Last updated 19th Sep 2022
The Guard of Honour at today's state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II included 12 officers from Thames Valley Police, who have paid tribute to the late monarch.
They included Detective Inspector Quoc Vo, Inspector Shamsher Dhothar, Inspector Tim Waterworth, Detective Constable Sikander Channa, PC Natalie King, and PC Harry Nogami.
They were part of the procession at Windsor Castle after the funeral service at Westminster Abbey.
"Honoured and humbled"
Inspector Tim Waterworth said he is "honoured and humbled" to be a part of the state funeral. He continued: "This is clearly the biggest royal event yet most sombre and I'm very proud to play a small part, and pay testament to my colleagues who have planned this so thoroughly and those from within the force and the other forces supporting us who are doing such a magnificent job."
"The oath I swore created a bond"
Detective Inspector Quoc Vo said: “I remember the day I swore an oath to well and truly serve Her Majesty the Queen in the office of constable on a sunny afternoon in Reading, 2007.
“The oath I swore created a bond which I know might sound strange when I’ve never met Her Majesty before. However, this bond runs much deeper than that. Were it not for Her Majesty the Queen and the hope she represented to my family, I would not be here today.
“The UK welcomed us as part of the Vietnamese refugee boat crisis in the 1980s. Policing became my calling to protect the community and our freedoms. As a husband, father to three young children, a son and a Detective Inspector, I can only describe forming the Honour Guard for Her Majesty in Windsor to be one my life’s greatest honour and privilege.”
The state funeral was the largest operation of national security in the UK's history and is the first one for a monarch since the death of the Queen's father, King George VI in 1952. It brought in officers from all over the UK and from numerous police forces up and down the country. It attracted thousands of people to London's streets and was watched by millions of people live on television.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said "nothing can compare" to the "hugely complex" task, describing it as the "largest policing operation" in the Met's history. Monday signals the "final and most complex phase" of the operation after the death of the monarch, he said.
The scale surpassed the operation for the Platinum Jubilee weekend and the London 2012 Olympics, which saw up to 10,000 police officers on duty per day.
It was also the largest global protection operation dealt with by the force, with world leaders, dignitaries and other VIPs attending the state funeral.
Former counter-terrorism police chief Nick Aldworth said it is "probably the biggest operation that we're likely to mount in the UK".
It comes at a time when the country's terrorism threat level stands at "substantial", meaning an attack is "likely".
Police and security services were alert to the prospect of knife attacks, bombs being detonated, and all other possible terror threats or incidents.