Queen gains close-up view of prince's transition to army officer"Well, no one's fallen over or fainted so far, so things are going well," one senior officer said yesterday, arching an eyebrow as he watched the Sandhurst passing-out ceremony at which Prince William formally completed his army training.
The risk of passing out during passing-out is a hoary old joke at the military academy, but hypothermia seemed the more likely hazard on a bleak and wind-whipped morning, as the Queen inspected more than 220 newly qualified officers, including her grandson, while her son gazed expressionlessly from the sidelines, his wife, Camilla, by his side.
In the outside world, the news media were frenetically digesting Lord Stevens' report into the death of Diana, picking over the remnants of demolished conspiracy theories and trying to build a new one out of Charles's alleged love for Tiggy Legge-Bourke, the princes' former nanny.
But in the leafy grounds of Sandhurst, ringed by machine gun-wielding guards, the feverishness seemed remote.