Listening to BBC Radios 3 and 4 over the past week has been like meeting an old friend who, after decades of squeezing into age-inappropriate designer clothes, has suddenly reverted to a sensible wardrobe. It’s a pity that it took the death of our beloved Queen for this to happen, but I’ve been enjoying it while it lasts – because, like the miracle drug that Robin Williams gives his dementia patients in the film Awakenings, this dose of sanity will quickly wear off.
Radio 4’s long-prepared tributes to Elizabeth II were, by the BBC’s standards, remarkably impartial. Even Saturday’s Today programme rose to the occasion. The Catholic journalist Catherine Pepinster’s Thought for the Day, on the humility of true kingship, was magnificent – better than the Archbishop of Canterbury’s heartfelt but characteristically messy contribution on Friday.
The only slightly annoying interview was with Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, who hailed our new king as ‘the world’s greatest environmentalist’.
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