Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Debate between Lord Sharpe of Epsom and Lord Wrottesley

Saturday 10th September 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, like many of your Lordships 1 was moved in ways I did not entirely expect by yesterday’s Front-Bench contributions and the contributions of many others, and by the fact that one of the words we have heard most frequently in connection with Her Majesty is “duty”. I have one duty to discharge and one reminiscence to share.

Like many noble Lords, I once served in an organisation bestowed with the title “royal”: in my case, the Royal Hong Kong Police. Her late Majesty bestowed that title in 1969 after the Hong Kong Police, as it was then known, had endured a very difficult few years, stoically and steadfastly doing its duty. We took great pride in that title and, on taking office as police officers, were privileged to swear an oath of loyalty to Her late Majesty. On behalf of all the men and women with whom I served and those before and after—Hong Kong Chinese, British, and from the broader Commonwealth—it is a privilege to pay tribute to our late Queen, thank her for what she did for us and send our sincere condolences to His Majesty the King and the rest of her family.

I met Her late Majesty only once, at an investiture, and I am proud to say that I was able to make her laugh. I will not tell you the joke I told her, but I mention it because one of my best friends was with me on that occasion, and he happens to be American. He did not meet the Queen, but he still says that that was one of the best days of his life. I know that he feels a sense of personal loss, as do we all, but that captures the essence of Her late Majesty. She touched people in so many ways, but often just by her very presence. She epitomised “majesty” in the truest sense of the word. It is perhaps a difficult thing to define, but I think we know what it means. Through her majesty, she reminded us all that honour, service and—that word again— duty are not redundant concepts, as the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, just noted. I have a strong suspicion that I will never achieve majesty, but I will strive to achieve those other qualities with renewed vigour.

Thank you for that, Ma’am. Thank you for everything. May you rest in peace. And God save the King.

[Lord Wrottesley (Con)]

My Lords, I rise to give a brief reflection and tribute to our late beloved Queen, the mother of our nation. As the Lord Privy Seal and Leader of this House, my noble friend Lord True, so movingly said in his tribute yesterday, she is the literal embodiment of our United Kingdom, our exemplar of dignity, civility and service, but above all of humanity and humility. I believe I have the dubious honour to have been the last Member of this House to have sworn an oath of allegiance to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It is not an honour that sits easily with me. However, I will endeavour to fulfil my duty to serve her successors, as we all in your Lordships’ House will do for our King, in the same way that Her late Majesty served us all.

The Queen’s Speech and her address to the nation, the Commonwealth and indeed the world, transcended national boundaries, cultures and continents. As my noble friend Lord Moynihan told us, tributes have been flooding in from all over the globe, particularly from those involved in one of her great loves, sport. A graphic example of this is the several messages that I have received in the past 24 hours. For the sake of brevity, I shall read just one, which is from the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Mr Luc Tardif, who said, “It is with immense sadness and regret that we have learned of the passing of Her Majesty the Queen. All of us are deeply saddened by these events and hope that Her Majesty has found eternal peace. Our thoughts are with you all, and we wish you the courage and strength to overcome these difficult times. Queen Elizabeth, a person who embodied the core values of sport, those of fair play and respect, will always be remembered. Please accept the deepest condolences from the world’s ice hockey family”. Her Majesty was not only our Queen, and that is a fitting tribute for a Queen beloved by the world; she was a Queen for everyone, in every place, and for all generations. No one alive will ever forget her, particularly if they had the privilege of meeting her. Her reign spanned across the ages and across all ages.

As a noble Lord said yesterday, we have been fortunate to have lived in a truly great Elizabethan age. Throughout her reign Queen Elizabeth II was undeniably the most famous woman—I would argue person—in a genuinely globalised world. Queen Elizabeth became a British icon, a woman of her time, manifest on stamps and, of course, our currency, featuring on the cover of TIME magazine in 1929 at the age of just three, and making countless other appearances in popular culture, be it in cartoons, on record covers, in television series and films, or—how can we forget?—in skits with such diverse figures as James Bond and Paddington Bear; I always wondered what Her late Majesty carried in her handbag.

But she never seemed overwhelmed by her own symbolism. She knew the power of paradox—of being accessible but somehow remaining discreet. In particular, she grasped the public mood, not seeking public approval but getting it in spades. She touched so many people’s lives, whether she met them in person or not. No one could call our late Queen ordinary but she was, above all, human, which is maybe what made her so special. As a daughter, sister, aunt, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, she upheld and asserted her family values throughout her reign.

Above all, I should like to thank Queen Elizabeth II, our late Queen, for her years of unquestioning service and devotion. This nation will be forever grateful that she served us, as we in your Lordships’ House served her and will serve her successors. I send my sincere condolences to the King and his family, who have lost a mother, aunt, grandmother and great-grandmother. Long live the King.