His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Baroness Quin Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Quin (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, while this is a sad occasion, it is also, as has been displayed by the many heartfelt speeches that we have heard, an opportunity to celebrate and pay tribute to the life and work of the Duke of Edinburgh. I begin, like many Members and former Members of the House of Commons, by saying how conscious I have always been of the work of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, which has motivated and inspired so many young people from my old constituency and helped to change lives for the better, opening up new opportunities for young people from a huge variety of backgrounds.

I can claim to have met the Duke on only two occasions, but both were special and memorable so I would like briefly to share them with your Lordships’ House. The first was at Windsor Castle when I was fortunate to attend a banquet that was part of the state visit of the then President of Germany, Roman Herzog, the first such banquet to be held at Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire. At the very end of the event a small group of us were standing with our cups of coffee, relaxing and talking about the success of the event, when the Duke came up to us, started chatting and then, to our surprise and delight, offered to show us the renovations and restoration work that had been carried out following the fire. We all felt very fortunate to be entertained on our own private tour and to learn about the details of the restoration directly from the Duke of Edinburgh, who of course had been so closely involved in that work.

The second occasion was also at Windsor, when, following a ministerial meeting, those present were invited to an informal lunch with members of the Royal Family. I was then a Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food—now Defra—and I found that I had been placed next to His Royal Highness for the lunch. I have to say that I wondered somewhat nervously how this would turn out and whether perhaps his reputation for forthright views might complicate things. In fact, the conversation flowed effortlessly thanks to His Royal Highness, who was keenly interested in agricultural policy. He grilled me on what the Government were doing and thinking, and I remember at one point reflecting that he would have made a formidable interviewer on the “Today” programme, for example. In asking searching questions, he demonstrated a huge knowledge of farming and the latest agricultural developments, combined with an obvious deep commitment to the countryside and to rural life.

In one of the many tributes over the last few days, Sir David Attenborough was quoted as saying that the first time he met His Royal Highness it was absolutely clear that if you turned up and had not mastered the papers, he would detect it very quickly and you would be in trouble. That certainly accorded with my own experience, but as a result I gained huge respect for His Royal Highness and for the role that he carried out over so many years, which is why I wanted to share these memories with colleagues today.