Penny Lancaster says she’s ‘grateful’ there were no incidents during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral

Model turned policewoman Penny Lancaster served at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral at RAF Northolt on Monday and has admitted she’s ‘grateful’ there were no incidents.

The wife of Rod Stewart was spotted in front of the Queen’s coffin as Her Majesty was driven to Buckingham Palace.

In a video, Penny said she’s glad there were no major incidents at the funeral and said the public ‘paid their respects in the proper manner’.

‘You can never quite predict how the crowd is going to react and the dangers that might lay ahead,’ Penny said in a clip shared by Sky News.

‘But we’ve had great training and preparation and fortunately everybody paid their respects in the proper manner and we didn’t have any incidents to speak of.’

She added: ‘So, [I’m] very grateful for that.’

The television personality, 51, who started working as a special constable with the City of London Police last year, also said on Monday that her role was ‘the biggest honour of all’.

Speaking to the PA new agency, Penny said: ‘I think it’s (the same reason) why every officer wanted to be here today, because we swore an oath to the Queen to serve in the office of constable.

‘This is the biggest honour of all, to be able to serve today on Her Majesty the Queen’s funeral.

‘We were in uniform by 0500 this morning and we don’t know what time we will be working until. We just want to make sure that all the crowds get home safely.’

Penny added: ‘Today has been quite a long shift, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’

The monarch arrived at the RAF base earlier this evening, after flying from Edinburgh this afternoon, and crowds gathered to pay their respects as she made her journey to the Palace.

Police were on the scene to marshal crowds, among them, Penny, in her role as a special constable.

She applied for the role after taking part in reality TV programme Famous and Fighting Crime where she joined officers on the beat.

Since then, she has undertaken many hours in the role, and earlier this year revealed she had made an arrest after pulling over a drug driving suspect.

Earlier today, ahead of the Queen’s arrival at the RAF base, Penny was pictured alongside colleagues, engaging with members of the public and marshalling crowds.

While filming Famous and Fighting Crime, the reality show that inspired Penny to apply for the force, she was at one point confronted by a drug dealer who threatened to stab her.

The mother-of-two, who married Sir Rod in 2007, said the experience inspired her to become a police officer.

Speaking about her role on BBC One’s Crimewatch Live earlier this year, she said: ‘It’s roughly about 200 hours a year which equates for myself to one duty a week in the City of London Square Mile including bridges there.

‘It’s predominantly foot patrol but I also get the opportunity to try other areas of policing out like working in vehicles, working with the sniffer dogs and operations like the London Marathon, the Lord Mayor’s Show and coming up the Jubilee.

‘I think being a mum and having the patience and the empathy to deal with teenagers in particular helps.

‘A lot of the time you think policing and you think crime but you’re dealing with victims.’

Penny said Sir Rod, 77, is supportive of her although he does worry about the dangers involved.

She added: ‘He’s always supportive in whatever I like to venture into and with this in particular he realised the amount of enthusiasm and joy and reward I got from it.

‘Of course, he worries about the natural risks involved but with the support I’ve got around me, and letting him know when I’m back at the station and safe to head home, he’s able to go back to sleep.’