Penny Lancaster had a unique perspective during the world’s farewell to Her Majesty.
The British model and TV personality, 51, who is married to Rod Stewart, credited “great training and preparation” for a smooth day as she spoke to Sky News about being part of the police detail on Monday for Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral.
“With all that planning going ahead, you can never quite predict how the crowd is [going to] react and the dangers that might lay ahead,” Lancaster said. “But we’ve had great training and preparation, and fortunately, everybody paid their respects in the proper manner and we didn’t have any incidents to speak of. So, I’m very grateful for that.”
She explained that Operation London Bridge “came into action immediately” after the Queen’s death, and they were alerted of duties via phone.
Shutterstock Penny Lancaster trained to become a special constable with the City of London Police after appearing on the reality TV show Famous and Fighting Crime
Lancaster, who is a special constable with the City of London Police, said that she’s “very proud to be able to serve” during such a “historic moment” for the country as she announced her state funeral duty last week on Good Morning Britain.
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Jack Hill – WPA Pool/Getty Queen Elizabeth II died at age 96 on Thursday, Sept. 8 and her state funeral was held Monday at Westminster Abbey before she was laid to rest at Windsor Castle
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“It was a great privilege to work at the Queen’s memorial service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday,” she said. “I signed the oath of Office of Constable to Her Majesty the Queen just over a year ago, April last year, and just as the seamless tie between Her Majesty and King Charles III, my oath will now be with the King.”
Stewart, 77, detailed his wife’s eight-month journey toward becoming a cop to PEOPLE last year after she was inspired by her appearance on Famous and Fighting Crime, a reality show in which celebrities ride along with real officers.
“She got absolutely absorbed by it and loved it,” he recalled in November. “She said, ‘I’m going to do this. I’m going to do all the training, all the exams.’ The nicest quote she said [is], ‘I want to give something back, fine, but I want to look after the city that I love, which is London.'”
Dave J Hogan/Getty Rod Stewart has been married to Penny Lancaster since 2007 and they share two children
“She’s a part-timer, she works one day a week and patrols the Tower Bridge around London. She makes arrests, and she’ll go out in front… She’s tough. She’s 6′ 2″. [You] can’t argue with a big blonde,” Stewart added.
Queen Elizabeth died at age 96 on Thursday, Sept. 8. Her death follows her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, who died at age 99 in April 2021. She is succeeded immediately by her eldest son, King Charles III, 73, who is now the monarch.
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The Queen’s coffin traveled to Westminster Hall in a solemn procession on Wednesday, and it has since been lying in state for mourners to pay their respects.
More than 2,000 people from around the world gathered Monday at Westminster Abbey for the Queen’s funeral, before she was laid to rest at Windsor Castle.
