My painstaking preparations for Prince Philip’s funeral

The files arrived marked ‘STRICT EMBARGO’ and ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ and ‘FORTH BRIDGE REVISED’ and stamped with various crests and insignia. My dog Mot was intrigued and sniffed the stack warily. I have a few days to ingest this mass of information — ceremonial detail, armed forces involvement, order of service, processional arrangements, musical selections, historical precedent, the unabridged chronicle of Windsor and its College of St George and its splendid chapel — before hosting the BBC’s coverage of the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh. In four hours of live broadcasting, watched by an audience of millions, the focus is on accuracy and tone. Most of the people doling out advice online have — predictably — never been entrusted with such a duty. But thanks anyway.

I was at home in south London — reading through my notes for when I present the local and national election results in May, as it happens — when news came through of Prince Philip’s death. Could I please present a two-hour special programme at 1 p.m.? A typically barmy request from a colleague who thinks London has only one postcode: N1. Certainly, a postcode starting SE is greeted with dumb bewilderment. But I do like a challenge, and I had barely 50 minutes to get my act together. ‘Would you like a cab?’ asked one co-worker, clearly unaware of the anguish faced by drivers having to choose which bridge to use to cross the Thames. Forget navigation apps: those of us with decades of experience know this is a matter of deep instinct, an almost mystical process. So I opted for public transport, as I usually do, and thanks to Southeastern trains and the Victoria line was at New Broadcasting House by 12.50.