The Queen dutifully sits through hours of displays of military pomp rehearsed to the second - and secretly loves it when everything goes wrong, Britain's pageant master says.
Major Sir Michael Parker, who has spent 46 years producing grand events, told the Daily Telegraph the sovereign is most amused when
showpiece spectacles descend into calamity.
Parker, 71, has produced more than 320 events including the 80th, 90th and 100th birthday celebrations for the Queen Mother, plus Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan anniversary celebrations.
Parker recalled the 1977 Silver Jubilee beacon-lighting in Windsor Great Park, west of London, which was his first national spectacular.
He had stuffed the beacon full of fireworks as he worried it might not catch light fast enough.
