For some reason I found myself remembering the first time I was ever ‘close to’ an IRA bomb when it went off.
My boss was already in the office, & I was hanging up my coat when we heard the bang, a few yards away in a Home Office building next to the old Westminster Hospital in Horseferry Road which was on the corner directly across from us. I had just walked past it on my way from the bus stop
At first we thought the noise must come from Hyde Park – when the weather was right we could hear the gun salutes.
Which set me wondering - do they still fire salutes, I can’t remember hearing of one. Have they been discontinued because of the alarm they might cause these days.
Well no they haven’t & yes they do still take place, according to the Buckingham Palace website.
What has changed is they never seem to count as worthy of a mention in the news in these less deferential days.
