Hereford Bishop's key role in coronation was "complete surprise"

It was back in March that Bishop Richard received an email inviting him to accompany Queen Camilla as one of two Bishop Assistants, responsible for providing support both to the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting during the service.

The invitation came, he says, as a complete surprise, and followed a visit to Sandringham in January, where he sat beside Queen Camilla for supper on the Saturday evening and lunch the following day, when, because it was his birthday, a cake had been made for him.

Queen Camilla arriving at Westminster Abbey, London, for their coronation ceremony. Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

"They are very kind to everybody," says Bishop Richard, "they bend over backwards to make people feel welcome."

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Then, in March an email arrived inviting him to play a significant role in last Saturday's coronation, though he doesn't think the two events are connected! "It was a complete surprise. It came completely out of the blue.

"I was in London for a week of rehearsals – the first on Tuesday morning when the King and Queen were present, on Wednesday and Thursday with stand-ins and on Friday with the King and Queen again."

The Right Reverend Richard Jackson, Bishop of Hereford (right) accompanied Queen Camilla as Bishop Assistant. Picture: PA

There had also been a rehearsal about six weeks ago "In the ballroom at Buckingham Palace a mock-up of The Sanctuary had been made and we had one rehearsal there."

Reflecting on the experience, Bishop Richard says he is still processing having been part of the historic event. "I was nervous," he admits. "Our role was to be a support for the two ladies-in-waiting, Annabel Elliott, the Queen's sister, and Fiona Mary Petty-Fitzmaurice, Lady Lansdowne and to make sure they were in the right place at the right time.

The Right Reverend Richard Jackson, Bishop of Hereford (right) accompanied Queen Camilla as Bishop Assistant. Picture: PA

"It is incredibly difficult to walk that slowly," he says. "But it was all very carefully timed to reach The Crossing just as they began to sing the Vivat.

"Perhaps the best bit of the day was actually the sense of satisfaction that we did the job OK. We (the other Bishop Assistant was the Bishop of Norwich, the Right Rev Graham Usher) performed our role and managed to merge into the background.

"The whole thing was a very profound experience, a profound act of worship as well as all the pomp and circumstance. You see these big events on TV, but when you are there you don't have a sense that you're part of some big TV spectacle. The abbey looks bigger than it feels when you are there and you feel you're part of something quite intimate."

The Right Reverend Richard Jackson, Bishop of Hereford (right) accompanied Queen Camilla as Bishop Assistant. Picture: PA

Among the memorable moments of a day he says felt surreal at the time, and continues to feel surreal, was being up close and personal with £5.7 billion worth of crown jewels and, in contrast, being so close to the robe worn by the King for the anointing – "it still bears the stains of previous coronation anointings which gives a real sense of continuity."

Having played his part as Bishop Assistant to Queen Camilla last Saturday, Bishop Richard Jackson, bishop of Hereford, did an interview with the BBC's Midlands Today before heading to his daughter's Clapham home where he had a cup of tea and fell asleep!