Boris Johnson prats around with umbrella at unveiling of fallen police memorial
Boris Johnson struggled to keep dry while attending the unveiling of a new police memorial alongside other dignitaries.
Prince Charles and home secretary Priti Patel grinned on as the PM got into a spot of trouble with his umbrella.
Attending the event in Staffordshire alongside the families of police officers killed in the line of duty, the PM was seen faffing around in the drizzle.
Mr Johnson was handed a brolly as rain began to fall but the notoriously gaffe-prone politician instantly managed to turn it inside out.
He did then succeed in getting it back around the right way again, demonstrating the sort of quick decision-making that his critics say has sometimes eluded him.
If he was hoping the antics would go unnoticed, the PM will be disappointed to learn he was live on Sky News at the time.
The presenter remarked that he seemed to be having ‘a few issues’ with his umbrella as he waited for a fly-past.
It was an embarrassing moment in an otherwise sombre day as crowds gathered to pay their respects to the almost 5,000 police officers and staff who have died on duty.
The Prince of Wales paid tribute to the ‘valour and sacrifice’ of the fallen as he dedicated the new national memorial to those who have ‘laid down their lives to keep us safe’.
Charles told the invited guests during the open-air ceremony: ‘To those of you with personal experience of the sudden, unexpected and tragic loss of someone in the police service, whether you are here today, viewing from home, or attending one of the many services within your constabularies, I can only offer the assurance of my most heartfelt thoughts and prayers.
‘On behalf of the nation, I would particularly like to express my profound gratitude for the valour and sacrifice of those who have laid down their lives to keep us safe, to remember their families who mourn, and to recognise those who continue to serve in order to safeguard our freedoms.
‘Whilst our expressions of appreciation will always be hopelessly inadequate and, unfortunately, make the anguish no easier to bear, I do pray that this memorial will not only provide a hallowed place for us all to pay tribute to each of them, but also the reassurance that those who have given their lives so selflessly will leave a lasting legacy and will never be forgotten.’
The new £4.5million, 39ft tall brass memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire features leaf-shaped holes representing courage, sacrifice and lives lost.
It was designed by Walter Jack and includes two low screens bearing the names of 2,000 police officers and staff, along with spaces for reflection.
Of those killed, 1,500 have died due to acts of violence and among those giving readings was Sidney Mackay, father of Pc Nina Mackay, a Metropolitan Police officer fatally stabbed in London in October 1997.
During the ceremony, a minute’s silence was held to remember all those from the police service who have died in the line of duty and Charles then laid a wreath, followed by Mr Johnson and Ms Patel.
In a pre-recorded video message, the Prime Minister said: ‘It takes a very special kind of person to be a police officer. When you pull that uniform, each day, you have little idea of what’s going to be asked of you, what dangers, you might face.
‘All you know for sure is that anything could happen, and that there’s a chance, however small that you won’t be going home to your loved ones at the end of your shift. Yet every day, you’d go out and serve the public all the same.”
He added: ‘No words can adequately do justice to the debt we as a nation owe your fallen colleagues, but I trust that this magnificent memorial in pride of place at the National Arboretum demonstrates the scale of our gratitude for their service, and that it will stand for centuries as a fitting tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who together form the finest police force in the world.’
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