Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Debate between Baroness Hayman of Ullock and Lord Glenarthur

Saturday 10th September 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

My Lords, I join all noble Lords across this House in offering my sincere condolences to the King, Queen Consort and all the Royal Family. When I was walking back yesterday evening, I noticed that all the bus stops had a photograph of the Queen where the advertisements normally are. As I walked past one, I heard a woman behind me say, “We could all learn a lot from her”, and her friend replied, “Yes, she was a class act.” She certainly was, and that embodies the spirit of what everyone in this Chamber has been saying over the last couple of days.

I should like to pay tribute as president of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust by sharing with noble Lords the strong interest of the late Queen and the wider Royal Family in native rare breeds. We have heard that Her late Majesty was incredibly knowledgeable about horses and she was a very experienced breeder. Her extensive breeding programmes made hugely important contributions to the survival of a number of our rare and native breeds, including highland and Shetland ponies at the Balmoral estate, fell ponies at Hampton Court and Cleveland bays as part of the carriage breeding programme at Hampton Court.

A number of breed societies have benefited greatly from her patronage, including the Fell Pony Breeders Association, the Highland Pony Society, the Cleveland Bay Horse Society and the Shire Horse Society. Her late Majesty kept fell ponies as a girl and enjoyed riding her native breed ponies. Only four years ago, aged 92, she was photographed riding one. I am sure we can all recall the beautiful photograph of our late Queen holding the reins of her two favourite fell ponies to mark her 96th birthday earlier this year.

The Queen’s work and actions on behalf of rare and native breeds are far too many to mention, but I would like to pick out one particular highlight. She was absolutely instrumental in saving the Cleveland bay horse breed in the 1960s. When she bought one of the few remaining stallions, she sparked a renewal of interest in the breed, which desperately needed help. The breed went from strength to strength. At the royal farms, Her Majesty also kept a variety of native cattle breeds, including highlands at the Balmoral estate and Jersey and Sussex cattle at Windsor.

All this is part of our Royal Family’s wider interest in native animals. The Queen Mother kept Orpington hens, Princess Anne keeps Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs as well as her own Orpington hens, and the Rare Breed Survival Trust has long been honoured by the patronage and wonderful support of His Majesty King Charles III, under his former title of the Prince of Wales. I hope I may have encouraged some noble Lords to look at keeping some rare breeds.

Our late Queen’s very practical, dedicated and immensely valued contribution to the survival of our native breeds is another example of her life of service to our country. We will always be immeasurably grateful for this service, her generosity and the remarkable legacy in this area that she leaves for the generations to come. Rest in peace.

[Lord Glenarthur (Con)]

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Stephen, who spoke earlier, I live on what is often known as Royal Deeside. I know from a very brief journey home only yesterday that my deep sense of sadness at the death of the Queen is one shared by the entire Aberdeenshire community, rural and urban—a community of which the Royal Family is very much a part.

A deep loss is felt not only by those of us in the United Kingdom but, as other noble Lords have referred to, by others internationally. As an example, I will take one nation of the Commonwealth that the Queen was aware I knew well, and whose royal family I remain close to: Tonga. I know from personal messages the deep sense of sadness that its people feel. The late Queen was extremely fond of Tonga and its people; she kept in touch with the Royal Family and took a keen interest in the fortunes of that country.

On a personal note, as a former Army officer, I felt deeply proud that Her Majesty the Queen took the salute at my commissioning parade in 1963. I had the lucky honour to be an officer in the Queen’s Bodyguard for Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers, and to have participated in many royal duties in front of Her late Majesty, not least the unique Golden and Diamond Jubilee garden parties held at Balmoral. I thank God for a life lived to the full, for Her late Majesty’s deep and guiding faith, wisdom, sense of duty and steadfastness, and for the abiding inspiration that she has been to us all. May she rest in peace. God save the King.