Anti-democratic grotesquerie as a drawn-out dance, Westminster last night played parliamentary ping-pong. Similarities to table-tennis were certainly evident.
Fears were unfounded as Big Ben did chime 96 times - to mark the former sovereign s age - this afternoon as the coffin was taken on a gun carriage from Westminster Abbey.
Parliament confirmed the famous bell - which is housed in the Elizabeth Tower, named after Her Majesty in 2012 during her Diamond Jubilee, - did not ring as planned at 8pm.