Did the BBC have to cancel Last Night of the Proms?

An hour after the announcement of the Queen’s death, the BBC asked the Philadelphia Orchestra to give a muted account of the national anthem and Elgar’s Nimrod to a massed Royal Albert Hall, before sending the audience home.

Late last night, the BBC announced that the last two Proms – tonight, and the Last Night – have been called off.

That was perfectly in order during ten days of national mourning when many other events are being put on hold.

However, this is the biggest musical night of the year on the BBC.

Might it not have been possible to rehearse and perform something appropriate to the national mood?

Verdi’s Requiem, perhaps.

Or Britten’s.

Or Vaughan Williams’s wartime fifth symphony, which the Queen knew and loved.

It would have required ingenuity, imagination, energy and flexibility.

But might a quiet Prom not have been worthier than an empty hall and a blank screen?