Goff, who died on Wednesday after a long illness, masterminded the Booker for more than three decades. “The current health of English fiction can be explained in two words: Martyn Goff,” wrote John Sutherland, when the former bookseller announced he was stepping down from the prize in 2002.

“For an English monarchy that has lasted more than 1,000 years, there can have been few more improbable occasions than the ceremony of remembrance here on Thursday for the reburial of one of the most bloodstained medieval sovereigns.”