I remember noting an incident.

An old fellow with a lame leg stumbled and upset his tray, so that the contents rolled hither and thither.

His attempts to recover them were ludicrous and caused the monarch on the throne to relax from his dignity and smile.

I mention this to show that what we witnessed was no set scene but apparently a living piece of the past.

Had it been so the absurdity of the bedizened old man tumbling down in the midst of the gorgeous pageant would certainly have been omitted.
No, it must be life, real life, something that had happened, and the same may be said of what followed.