Category: Parliament

Seema Malhotra – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Seema Malhotra, the Labour MP for Feltham and Heston, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

At this very sad time, we remember the life of Queen Elizabeth II, with gratitude for her love and service to our nation. Her Majesty lived her life guided by a deep sense of duty—a duty to her people, her country, her family—and an overwhelming sense of public service. She carried out her duties without stinting, without complaint and through the toughest of times and the darkest of hours. As a politician, I appreciated the stability and constancy that she brought through recent difficult and tumultuous years; how she was so attentive to adapting to periods of social change through her time; and her respect for our democracy.

That is why we mourn our Queen: her sense of duty, her humour and her warmth touched the hearts of the nation and indeed so many across the world in her beloved Commonwealth and beyond. She lived a truly remarkable life. She was purposeful in all she did. Young and old loved her. I am not the only MP to know that probably the first and most important question we will always be asked on a visit to a primary school is, “Have you met the Queen?”

Today, I laid flowers at Buckingham Palace on behalf of my constituents, with our thoughts and prayers for King Charles III and all his family. My constituents are sharing in the national grief, and I have been receiving moving and thoughtful messages from them. One said:

“News of the passing of Her Majesty deeply saddened me. Her reign spanning over 70 years was a celebration of leadership, courage and dedication. She led the nation with exemplary steadfastness even while battling with her personal grief.”

Another said:

“Rest in Peace to an amazing icon. She was the face of Britain and was loved by all.”

Locally, we recall the special memory of a visit by Her late Majesty in October 2004 to open a new wing of the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha on Alice Way in Hounslow. The Gurdwara has a wonderful library, classes and community wellbeing and support services, all of which she saw. Her visit was just one example of her deep and genuine interest in communities across our nation and in all faiths that saw people from all backgrounds feel at ease, respected and connected to her. Her visit left a mark and a deep sense of the local community and its story being recognised and valued.

Her late Majesty’s passing also caused me to reflect on how, just in June, we came together to celebrate her platinum jubilee. I attended more than 10 street parties and events in those few days. Even at 96, she had the power to bring people together. She was the inspiration for parties in Feltham, Heston, Bedfont, Hanworth and more widely that were organised by residents, local businesses and our Royal British Legions. People shared their lives after two years of covid. The events reunited friends and neighbours still building their confidence to connect after so much isolation.

The loss of a mother is truly the most painful of moments and, as King Charles III takes on the role of monarch, we know that he will be leading and supporting his whole family in their grief just over a year after the sad passing of Prince Philip. They do not grieve alone. We stand with them at this time. Her late Majesty was admired, loved, respected and revered. She was the best of us and brought out the best in us. Today, we thank her, we mourn her and we celebrate her. God save the King.

September 9, 2022
Bill Cash – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Sir Bill Cash, the Conservative MP for Stone, in the 9 September 2022.

I returned to Westminster, after the dreaded news, from our home at Upton Cressett in Shropshire, having this morning tolled our Hanover bell, struck in 1701 to respect the Act of Succession. I struck it 96 times in respectful memory of Her Majesty. Farewell our longest, and most loved and devoted sovereign in the history of our country and of the Crown in Parliament. She loved her people, and they loved her, as did my constituents in Stone, for whom I speak. They showed that in those heady days of her 70th jubilee, which they joyfully celebrated with her, never forgetting the profound loss of her dearly loved husband, Prince Philip, only a few months before.

As the Queen requested, God helped her to keep her vow of service, which she made on her accession to the throne in February 1952. Born as I was on 10 May 1940—the very day that Churchill became Prime Minister—I vividly recall that moment in February 1952, at the age of 11, when the headmaster declaimed to us: “The King is dead. God save the Queen.” I watched her coronation with wonder on a small television screen in black and white on 2 June 1953, just as Hillary climbed Everest and we won the Ashes—it was a triple whammy because of the coronation itself.

The Queen was graceful in her majesty and, in equal parts, she was selfless; she had Christian faith and integrity; she was constant; she was wise; she had an extraordinary, spontaneous beauty; and she had the kindest and most expressive eyes, and a gentle and humorous smile. I was honoured and privileged to meet her and to speak with her several times. What she said to this lowly Back Bencher was more poignant than I deserved. “We read you in Hansard”, she said once. “Your Majesty”, I replied, “I am very surprised: very few do—particularly on the issue of Europe.” She thought that was very amusing.

I was proud to be knighted by the Queen herself at Windsor, one of the greatest honours of my life. She was the mother of our nation and of the Commonwealth. She was a supreme diplomat for our country and, as many have said, in Ireland also. She lived in the hearts of her subjects, who will always remember her. For them, she will never die. All our prayers are with the whole royal family. Mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, may she rest in peace. God save the King.

September 9, 2022
Kirsten Oswald – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Kirsten Oswald, the SNP MP for East Renfrewshire, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

I am grateful for this opportunity to give a tribute to the late Queen on behalf of my constituents in East Renfrewshire. East Renfrewshire Council has opened a book of condolence this morning, and I know that many local residents will want to take that opportunity to pay their respects and share memories of meeting the late Queen and what she meant to them.

To so many people in my community and far beyond, she was simply a constant. She was, after all, the Queen for longer than most of us here have been alive and the only monarch that we have ever known. Her reign stretched across a society that has changed so much in the many intervening years, but the thing that never changed throughout all that time was her focus, which always remained on her duty. That sense of service and duty and her resolve to persist was a hallmark throughout her reign. I do not think that anyone could fail to be moved by the fact that that continued even this week, as she dealt with the installation of a new Prime Minister. In fact, during her reign, the late Queen saw 15 Prime Ministers, five First Ministers and 13 US Presidents. That puts this in perspective; in every way, this is the end of an era.

Her sense of public duty, which spanned that whole era, was very close to everyone who came into contact with the late Queen. I will always remember the great regard that my gran had for her. She always followed the Queen’s movements with great interest. They shared a birthday and she saw that as being very significant. She was very pleased to be able to attend a number of royal visits. I grew up in Angus, which means that my home was not very far from Glamis, so I think that my gran’s interest stemmed very much from knowing that there was that local connection, because the Queen was known to have spent many happy times in the area.

Of course, the late Queen was involved in so many different local areas, places, organisations and charities. That means that she will be missed in all of those spheres, too, and I think that people will feel that loss very personally because they had that personal connection to her. They will feel that this loss is also their loss. I know that many will take comfort from the words that they have heard today.

For all her public presence and influence, it is obvious that most of all she will be missed by her family. I hope that in time they will also be able to take some comfort, perhaps by looking back on a life of duty that was well lived and by reflecting on the memories that people across the world will have shared. I am sure that we all know from our own lives that very deep sense of grief and loss that the King and the royal family will be experiencing just now. It is difficult to lose a loved family member, and my thoughts and the thoughts of people in East Renfrewshire are with them today.

September 9, 2022
Edward Leigh – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP for Gainsborough, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

I am sure that I speak for other colleagues when I say that when a debate has been going on for four hours, one feels more and more inadequate about what one is going to say and how one can do true justice to this magnificent tapestry.

When Mr Speaker opened the debate, he said that only a score of Members were alive during the previous reign; I must confess that I am one of them, but my memories of it are very dim indeed, as I was so young when the Queen came to the throne. She has been, as so many people have said, an extraordinary guiding star to us. Some of the best parts of these tributes have been wonderful literary allusions, as well as personal memories.

I remember talking to her once during my time on the Public Accounts Committee. I was very nervous because we were trying to abolish the royal train—a train so expensive and slow that it could travel only during the night—but when I raised it with her, she immediately defused the whole issue. She was charm itself, and despite our efforts, I think the royal train carried on running for many years after that—[Interruption.] And still does!

I remember that, at a Privy Council meeting, I was quite nervous—although quite proud—to mention to the Queen that my father had been Clerk of the Privy Council decades earlier. I was particularly nervous, because when I had proudly mentioned it as a younger man, the Duke of Edinburgh said that the whole Privy Council was a “bloody waste of time”—indeed, it is quite formulaic. When Nick Clegg was Lord President of the Privy Council, he actually turned over two pages of orders and nobody noticed apart from the Queen, who immediately stopped proceedings. When I mentioned my father, she was so kind. Of course, the then Clerk had no memory of one of his predecessors from four decades before, but she immediately remembered my father and thanked me for his service. What a wonderful, kind and superbly astute person she was.

Before I sit down, may I just mention one thing? I was struck by the wonderful speech by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood), who spoke on behalf of Muslims. I am not an Anglican—we Catholics had a bit of a torrid time under the first Elizabeth, when one of my ancestors was hanged, drawn and quartered merely for being a Catholic priest, and we did not do so well under the second Charles, either—but I think the Queen played an absolute blinder in the way that she carried out her role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

We all know that so many top politicians just don’t do God. They are embarrassed to talk about religion and feel that by doing so they put themselves on a pedestal that they will be dragged down from. So many people talk about service, and I think that what epitomised her service was that it came from her deep faith. Unlike all of us, who spent so many years trying to get into this place to serve the public, she never asked for this job, but she was sustained all her life by her deep and abiding faith. When people were sad, in mourning or experiencing difficulties, her Christmas broadcast appealed to and comforted people of all faiths and none. We really should thank her for that, because it is so difficult to do.

In one of those Christmas broadcasts, over 50 years ago, she said:

“Wise men since the beginning of time have studied the skies. Whatever our faith, we can all follow a star—indeed we must follow one if the immensity of the future opening before us is not to dazzle our eyes”.

Dear colleagues, she has been our guiding star for all that time. Remember that her first broadcast was 80 years ago, to children displaced by war. She has been our guiding star. Eternal rest grant unto her; may perpetual light shine upon her.

September 9, 2022
Catherine McKinnell – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Catherine McKinnell, the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

My thoughts, prayers and condolences, and those of communities across Newcastle North, are with His Majesty the King, the royal family and the country as we mourn, remember and celebrate the incredible life of Her late Majesty.

On learning the news of her passing yesterday, as I am sure was the case for many, I shed a tear. I was asked by one of my children what the Queen meant to me, and it was only when I thought about how I would answer that question that I realised the profound impact her ever-presence had had: a strong, steadfast matriarch, unwavering in her calm, measured, dignified approach, no matter the challenges thrown at her or at our nation—and there have been many.

So often she captured the mood of her country, shared our joys and provided comfort. Her intervention during the pandemic, a time of such anxiety and unease, was pitch-perfect and soothed the nation. The tributes have been global—as was her reach—and, at the same time, so deeply personal; a unique, unrivalled and personal connection to millions of people across the globe. As I am sure is the case for many Members across the House, on every school visit I make, I am asked whether I know the Queen. Although Newcastle can seem a long way from Buckingham Palace, Her late Majesty is felt very closely.

We in Newcastle have been privileged to have had many visits from Her late Majesty over the years. Images of her visits show the sheer joy that she brought every time she came, whether to open Newcastle’s Eldon Square, to visit the Millennium bridge, or to visit the city library. Indeed, I was only recently in Eldon Square buying new school shoes for my children, and we stopped and remarked upon the prominent plaque marking her visit to open it in 1977. Her legacy will live on for many years to come.

Her late Majesty had a particular connection with our Metro service. She opened the Tyne and Wear Metro in 1981, naming the Queen Elizabeth II metro bridge over the Tyne and travelling on the 4020 metrocar. The original 1981 metrocar received a makeover for this year’s platinum jubilee and for the golden jubilee, when she got to travel in a golden metrocar.

Her late Majesty’s love and knowledge of horses is, of course, legendary. We were honoured to have her visit Newcastle Gosforth Park racecourse in my constituency for the famous Northumberland Plate race day. The photos from that day show her beaming from ear to ear in the way that only racing can bring about.

There is such a rich life of duty, service and deep faith to reflect on; there is so much to learn from her life and her example; and there is so much to do to ensure that her legacy endures. May perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. God save the King.

September 9, 2022
Theresa Villiers – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Theresa Villiers, the Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

I feel I cannot match the eloquence of the many wonderful speeches we have heard today, but I want to share for a few moments my personal sadness at this terrible loss. I am sure that sense of sadness is shared also by my constituents in Chipping Barnet.

Her late Majesty was a woman of remarkable charm, warmth and kindness, typified by the lovely smile that adorned so many hundreds of millions of images of her published during her 70-year reign. She could come out with rather unnervingly direct comments sometimes on matters in the news, often with a twinkle in her eye, deploying that mischievous sense of humour about which so many have spoken today.

When I met Her late Majesty, I was so star-struck in her presence that I scarcely felt able to string a sentence together. If she noticed, she was far too kind and polite to mention it. Her enthusiasm for Northern Ireland featured in many of our conversations during my time as Secretary of State. At an audience she kindly granted me at Hillsborough Castle, she remarked gleefully that she always felt a sense of such excitement flying into Belfast and catching sight of the Harland & Wolff cranes. She said, “You know there is only one place in the world you can be when you see those landmark cranes.”

As Northern Ireland Secretary, my team and I had provided some suggestions on the itinerary for the 2014 royal visit. I felt they might be a little more daring than previous plans for the visit, so it was with some nervousness that I arrived at the first stage of the programme at St George’s Market, which saw Her late Majesty mingle among the crowds in a way that would have been inconceivable in Belfast just a few years previously. Later, a walk by Her late Majesty around the set of “Game of Thrones” in the Paint Hall Studios was a social media phenomenon, but politely—and probably wisely—she declined the invitation to sit on the Iron Throne.

History, I am confident, will record her role in promoting peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland as one of the greatest achievements of Queen Elizabeth II. As we have heard and as we all know, she suffered personal tragedy at the hands of the Provisional IRA, yet she was willing to shake hands with the late Martin McGuinness and even welcome him to her home in Windsor. Her visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 was truly a landmark moment. Britain and Ireland share hundreds of years of contested and often violent history, and for centuries to come I am sure people will recall that 2011 state visit as a turning point that played a significant role in moving us on from a conflicted past towards a better future.

Her late Majesty was the last Head of State anywhere in the world to have donned a uniform in world war two. As our new Prime Minister said, Queen Elizabeth was the rock upon which we built the modern nation we are today. She has been an unchanging constant in all our lives, there for us in good times and bad. As we move on from the Elizabethan to a new Carolingian age, this loss truly marks the end of an era. Without her presence, life in this country will never be the same again. God save the King.

September 9, 2022
Ian Murray – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Ian Murray, the Labour MP for Edinburgh South, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

It is a great pleasure to follow the “buttocks” of the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell)—it will be the first time he has heard that, as well.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to pass on my condolences to the royal family and also to pay tribute to Her late Majesty the Queen on behalf of my own family, constituents in Edinburgh South and people all over her beloved Scotland. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother to her own family, but she was also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to the nation. We will all remember where we were when we learned of her death yesterday. We will always remember that it was in Scotland that she spent her last weeks and days and, as we have heard already, she loved being in Scotland and particularly on the Balmoral estate—the tranquillity, the great outdoors and the complete absence of any speed limits.

The Queen loved Scotland and Scotland loved the Queen. The ties between Scotland and our longest-reigning monarch are plentiful, from her very first public speech as a young princess in Aberdeen at the opening of the British Sailors Society, to the yarn of her wedding dress being woven in Scotland, Royal Yacht Britannia being built on the Clyde and retired to the Forth, as well as the opening of the first Forth bridge and the second one 53 years later. She always looked forward to the royal week in Edinburgh each year. Scotland was, as she described it, her “special place”. She said at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 that,

“if I may make a personal point”

Scotland occupies

“such a special place in my own and my family’s affections.”

I remember my own childhood and the traditions that revolved around Her late Majesty. Every Christmas, she was as much a part of our family as the rituals of the tree and the turkey as every generation of our family crowded around the television for her 3 o’clock Christmas address. She transcended every generation all the way to my two-year-old daughter, who now knows who that was drinking tea with Paddington. I have yet to explain to Zola that Paddington’s friend has passed away.

Over the past 24 hours, I have tried and struggled to find the language to describe her, but the one word that a constituent said to me late last night was “iconic”. She was the very definition of iconic. She was on every pound I ever spent—admittedly fewer than many others because I am a Scot—and on every letter that I ever sent. Her name is on dozens of plaques and buildings all over my constituency and tens of thousands all over the country. She embodied what it means to be British and epitomised public duty, decency and dignity. She picked us up when we were down and when our children and grandchildren look back at this time, it will be Elizabeth II above all else who they will remember as the thread through every part of our post-war history. She was truly our greatest monarch.

I would love to tell a humorous anecdote—I hope that somebody else will tell it—about the visit to Balmoral that she had with Dick Griffin, one of her former protection officers, but there is no time to do that. Somebody else might do so shortly. I never met Her Majesty but we all think we did because she was such an integral part of and influence on our lives. Everyone thinks they did meet her, because anyone who did never stops telling the story. That is the impact she had on each of their lives.

I can only imagine the pain and grief the royal family feel today and that pain and grief is compounded by the duty that King Charles III now has to lead this nation. I, the people of Edinburgh South and the people of Scotland simply say thank you for everything, Ma’am, rest in peace, and God save the King.

September 9, 2022
David Mundell – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by David Mundell, the Conservative MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had a lifelong and deep-felt love for Scotland, which we have already heard about. That was reciprocated by the people of Scotland, who held her, and indeed still hold her, in deep affection. I had the opportunity myself to see that close up, both as a Member of the Scottish Parliament when it reconvened in 1999, and subsequently as Secretary of State for Scotland. At the opening of the Scottish Parliament, the Queen declared:

“I have trust in the good judgement of the Scottish people, I have faith in your commitment to their service and I am confident in the future of Scotland.”

She reaffirmed that belief in, and commitment to, Scotland on each subsequent opening of the Scottish Parliament, although she told me she always found it amusing that, as soon as the Scottish Parliament was formally opened, it went on recess, or on holiday, as she referred to it.

As we have heard, the Queen was also extremely well informed about everything that was going on in politics. At the time of my first substantive conversation with her as Secretary of State, there had been a major incident in Parliament. In 2015, rather more members of the Scottish National party had been elected than might have been anticipated, and there was a little conflict about who should sit on one of the Opposition Benches—the then Member for Bolsover and some other Labour Members were not so keen on SNP members occupying it. The Queen was very familiar with the situation and sought to interrogate me on the rights and wrongs of the issue, but I found myself blurting out, “Oh, your Majesty, that’s buttockgate.” I thought, “In my first meeting with the Queen, I’ve said the word ‘buttock’. What is to happen?” But rather than me being taken off to the Tower or some other place, the Queen just laughed. She found it all very amusing. She was interested in what was happening in Parliament and in the day-to-day events.

The Queen had many connections with my constituency, from opening the Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary, to visiting the town of Lockerbie after the devastating air disaster. Most tellingly, I found a clipping from a 1956 edition of The Glasgow Herald. It stated:

“Previous royal visits to Scotland having neglected to include Biggar, in South Lanarkshire, the Queen decided to make amends in October of 1956. As this paper observed: ‘A thoughtful gesture by Her Majesty added 90 minutes in time and 35 miles in distance to her programme.’”

But she felt that Biggar was the only county town omitted from recent royal tours. That was the Queen. She wanted to include every community across the United Kingdom and of course the people of Biggar turned out in their masses to thank her for that very generous gesture.

Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom have lost not just the Queen but a dear and true friend whose like we shall not see again. God bless her and God save the King.

September 9, 2022
Chris Bryant – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

“Ring out the old, ring in the new,”

wrote Tennyson on the death of his much-loved friend. We proclaim, “The Queen is dead, long live the King”, but it feels too sudden, too soon, too sharp a turn in our lives. The death of a queen is painful—it hurts. We do not have to ask,

“O death, where is thy sting?”

because we know—the nation feels the sting of death. It is as if a member of our own family has departed. Weirdly, we feel as if we ought to tell members of our family who have long departed the news. Even Google, with its brightly coloured logo, is grey today, which is sort of ironic for Her Majesty, who wore every colour under the sun at some point in her life.

The poet, priest and Member of Parliament, John Donne, said when preaching at Whitehall in 1627 that the protection against a fearful death was a life devoted to a calling.

That is exactly what it was—a life devoted to a calling. How often must the Queen have thought, “Not another opening. Not another royal variety performance. Not another unfunny comedian. Not another Prime Minister.” Yet she did her duty. In the words of the promise of the boy scouts and the guides,

“to do my best to do my duty to God and to the Queen”.

She did her duty to herself.

I pledged my allegiance to the Queen 10 times as a clergyman and as Member of Parliament—we all have—and to her heirs and successors. In a sense, that is not personal at all. Our allegiance was to her as Head of State—the embodiment of our shared life as the United Kingdom—but I suspect that we felt that we all owed allegiance to her personally, because she had earned her moral authority. She donned a uniform to do her bit to fight fascism. She could not lead us into battle, or give us laws, or administer justice, but she gave us her heart and her devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations, as she faithfully promised in 1957.

There are other queens. I have met a few—but then again, too few to mention. However, we—and, I note, the President of France—call only one the Queen

The Queen’s face was on the coins my constituents started producing at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant in 1953. However, to mix my poets, she knew that

“Our little systems have their day”—

we are

“Dress’d in a little brief authority”.

I know that some people deify the monarchy, but that is to miss the point: the point is the humanity of the monarchy. Richard II, under whose great hammerbeam ceiling Her Majesty will lie in state in a few days’ time, is given a great speech by Shakespeare, which ends:

“You have mistook me all this while.

I live with bread like you, feel want

Taste grief, need friends”—

not just bread, of course, but marmalade sandwiches as well.

Most movingly of all, the Queen was as human as any other widow in losing her husband, her consort, her life companion. None will forget her sitting alone at Philip’s funeral. It is a sign of their enduring love that her and Philip’s deaths came closer in time than those of any other reigning monarch and their consort in our history. I thank God that it was in her reign that men were able to declare their love to one another, and women were able to do the same.

I end with words that have never felt more appropriate than for our longest-reigning monarch, who lived through holocaust and war, and led us through years of unimaginable turbulence:

“The weight of this sad time we must obey;

Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.

The oldest hath borne most: we that are young

Shall never see so much, nor live so long.”

God save the King.

September 9, 2022
Mel Stride – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Mel Stride, the Conservative MP for Central Devon, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

I rise to pay tribute to a very remarkable and wonderful lady, not just on my own behalf but on behalf of the constituents of Central Devon.

Queen Elizabeth II, our longest-reigning monarch, a passionate Head of the Commonwealth for which she did so much, was loved, admired and recognised throughout the world in a life that spanned so much. When she came to the throne, world war two was a very fresh memory, there was still rationing and man had yet to walk on the moon. She reigned through Suez and the Cuban missile crisis; she saw the Beatles, she saw a solitary football World cup victory and she saw Concorde fly; she witnessed industrial unrest on an industrial scale; and in her own family she suffered great personal tragedy. She was there alongside us for the dawn of a new millennium. She joined James Bond for the opening of the London Olympics and Paddington for the jubilee. She said of the Lionesses and their recent triumph:

“You have all set an example that will be an inspiration for girls and women today, and for future generations.”

That could equally be said of her.

Elizabeth, as we have heard, has always been here. She has always been a part of our lives and a part of our world. Perhaps, in essence, that is why she will be so sorely missed. She was certainly with us in Devon and the west country; she would have known my constituency well, as I have no doubt she did all our constituencies. She was a frequent visitor to the south-west and was there as recently as the G7 summit, where for the first time she met President Biden, one of the 13 Presidents of the United States whose acquaintance she made—all of them since Harry S. Truman, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson.

When Her Majesty was 13, she accompanied her family, including her father King George VI, to the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.

She would remember that as the first time she met a young cadet—her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. That is something of which Devon can be particularly proud. As Queen, she returned to Dartmouth with Prince Philip before the coronation.

Many of us have shared today our personal reflections of our contact with Her Majesty. Mine came as Comptroller of the Royal Household in our Whips Office and briefly as Lord President of the Council. My impression of her in my small number of private meetings with her was that she was sharp; that she was kindly; and that she was humorous—she had a twinkle in her eye. Indeed, when I went to see her for the first time, the equerry turned to me and, to put me at ease, told me a little anecdote about an ambassador who had gone to see her for the first time. On approaching her, to his horror, his phone sprang to life and started ringing, and he looked panicked. After he had turned it off, she turned to him and said, “Perhaps you should have answered it—it might have been something important.”

I thought that perhaps Her Majesty could be a little mischievous on occasion. I did not know her well enough to be sure of that, but I was certain of the fact that she could be great fun—that was something that shone through when meeting her—and wise, of course, based on her huge experience of life and the world. Just as everyone told me, she was someone who put you at your ease—someone it was good to be with. She made you feel special.

It was the honour of my life to spend a little time with her. Queen Elizabeth, thank you—you gave us all so much. Rest in peace. God save the King.

September 9, 2022