HEBER ACKLAND Lincoln’s Royal

HEBER ACKLAND’S

ONE FINAL DUTY FOR HER MAJESTY

Based in Lincoln and at Royal Navy locations across the UK, Heber Ackland is Director of The University of Lincoln’s Selborne Programmes which, as part of a wider consortium of partners, provides training and education for the Royal Navy. But as one of Queen Elizabeth II’s former Equerries, Heber received the call to report to London to serve as a Pall Bearer for the State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen. It was a day full of emotion but a chance to perform one final duty for the person he used to work for…

CARPE DIEM, reasoned Heber when he was approached by the Navy to apply for the position of Equerry to The Queen in 2004. Equerries are attached to particular members of the Royal Family and are drawn from across the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force. “As I recall, the process had three stages,” says Heber. “Your professional record is reviewed and you’re asked to apply by, in my case, the Royal Navy. The next stage is to be interviewed by senior officials at the Palace.” “The third step was an audience with The Queen. I arrived at Buckingham Palace on a warm June afternoon – I remember it being Derby day – and I was shown into one of The Queen’s sitting rooms by a member of her staff. I bowed to her, we shook hands and then the doors closed and it was just the two of us, talking to one another for about 20 minutes.”

Heber was born in Glasgow. His father was a Royal Navy officer and as a family they were based at different bases across the UK and also in Hong Kong during the early 1980s. After attending Cheltenham College and reading history at Oxford’s Keble College, Heber joined the Royal Navy in January 1991 and completed his training in Dartmouth, specialising in logistics. The role saw him undertaking many sea and shore positions, including his first job in the survey vessel HMS Beagle and his last seagoing role as a head of department in HMS Ark Royal prior to its decommissioning in 2011. Working alongside colleagues in Warfare, Engineering, Aviation and Medical specialisations, Logistics personnel ensure that people are paid, fed and the ship is supplied with spares and stores wherever it is in the world. The work involved overseeing support operations and was, essentially, one of meticulous organisation and planning. Later, Heber would serve as a Military Assistant to several senior Admirals, and in August 2004 – following what was probably the most nerve-racking job interview in the world – he was appointed as Equerry to The Queen. “I’d met The Princess Royal before but I’d never been inside a Palace. To say I was nervous is a huge understatement but all I can say is that The Queen had a tremendous way of putting people at ease, something I was to witness many times as Equerry. For much of that first conversation we talked about whether taking up the role was right for me, and for my career, a wonderful thing that I wasn’t expecting.” “We talked, too, about HMS Lancaster, a ship she launched and had only recently visited. I kept my fingers crossed and received a call a few days later to tell me that I had been selected.”

Heber’s role as Equerry was to oversee The Queen’s official programme of calls, to accompany her on UK and overseas tours and to plan her engagements with units of the Armed Forces. His time as Equerry lasted from 2004 to 2007, at which point he returned to other roles in Defence. “My last sea job was in HMS Ark Royal, and then I ran the Royal Navy’s logistics school, worked in several Headquarters and ended up running the UK’s Joint Services Command and Staff College at the UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham.” “At that point I needed to choose a role in either logistics or education, and I chose the latter, with an interview for the position of Director with The University of Lincoln’s Selborne Programmes in Easter 2021. I started in the role on 1st September that year, after seeing my 270 previous military students graduate.” It may seem surprising that the University of Lincoln has a role in delivering training and education for the Royal Navy. >>

Lincolnshire is, after all, a more aviationfocused county, but the University had existing links with tri-service defence education, and Heber was used to working with the other Services including with the team from RAF Cranwell and the University of Lincoln on the development of degrees in Logistics. “I’d left the Royal Household but The Queen never forgets people who work for her and I was invited to attend events after I left. You’re always thought about and as a former Equerry I knew that when the time came there would be a role I needed to fulfil. But like most others I was caught quite offguard by the news.” “I was at home and followed the reports with concern. I then received the call to report to London within 48-hours to join the 14 other Equerries who served from 1989 to 2022 where we’d be briefed on our role.”

“The first rehearsals took place on the Monday morning, and our first official duty was to accompany the Procession from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday. I hadn’t marched in years... but it’s not something you forget!” “The Royal Household and the Army London District Headquarters had excellent plans. It was very much a case of constant practice and great teamwork and a number of intense overnight rehearsals.“ “There were a mere ten days from the moment the sad news was announced until the State Funeral. Ten days for the Royal Households, Government, Armed Forces, Police, Devolved and Civic authorities, and countless others, to coordinate a huge and complex series of major State events.” “I take my hat off to all those involved, not least those behind the scenes who enabled it all to happen smoothly and safely.” “I stayed near the Centre on the night before the State Funeral, I didn’t want to take any chances! I didn’t get as much sleep as I hoped for and was wide awake at 5.30 to make sure I was on duty in plenty of time.”

Heber (right) and fellow Equerries.

“The Queen was always very interested in people. She was down to earth, which seems like an odd way to describe a monarch but she was very kind and put people at ease...”

“As you can imagine, you feel a whole range of emotions at different times over the ten days. Firstly, the deep sadness at the loss of our Queen, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and, to many of us, someone we had experienced as a wonderfully caring boss.”

“That’s followed by a lot of nervousness, especially early on, about the scale of the event and not wanting to let the King or the country down.” “Then there’s a growing feeling of pride as you feel part of something quite extraordinary bringing people everywhere together.” “The Queen was always very interested in people. She was down to earth, which seems like an odd way to describe a monarch but she was very kind and definitely put people at ease. She had a great sense of humour, quite dry and wonderfully amusing.”

“My two young children watched the funeral and understood something of what was going and they were, I think, pleased to say their Daddy was part of it.”

“Finally, though, I’ll remember feeling an uplifting sense of everyone doing their one last duty to the Queen in a manner I hope and believe she would have approved of. It was uplifting in a way as we processed through London and Windsor and attended the Services in Westminster Abbey and St George’s Chapel, Windsor. “

“There was great dignity and respectful silence interspersed with ripples of applause and occasional heartfelt shouts of ‘Thank you, Your Majesty.’ I think that says a lot about how she’ll be missed and how her commitment to duty was appreciated for all of her 70 years of service.” n