His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Chris Elmore Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)]

My thoughts and prayers are with Her Majesty the Queen and all members of the royal family. Those of us who have experienced loss must remember that Prince Philip was, first and foremost, a father, grandfather and great-grandfather. On behalf of my Ogmore constituents, I pay tribute to his service throughout these last 70 years as consort to Her Majesty.

Many Members have spoken about the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. I make no apology for repetition, although I wish to speak more about the impact that it had on young people when I was a cabinet member for education in a different local authority from the one I now represent in Parliament. I was privileged, during my four and a half years in that particular role, to meet young people who achieved bronze, silver and gold awards, some of whom obviously got to gold after achieving bronze and silver. They were from some of the poorest communities and some of the wealthiest—the most deprived and the least deprived, the full spectrum of young people one could ever wish to meet. The extraordinary thing about the award was that it did not matter where they were from—they were all working towards a common goal. It was a joy to see young people travelling to London. Some young people would never have had the option to travel to London—they would never otherwise have an opportunity to travel outside the small community where they had lived their whole life. The Duke of Edinburgh Award gave them the freedom and inspiration to do something.

I met many young people from deprived communities who went to university because of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Arguably, judging from the comments of their own parents, they would never have done that if it were not for the award. That is a legacy that I hope that the royal family and, indeed, the Queen, will look back on. I hope that they will think of that small idea in the 1950s and the success that so many young people have now achieved, and what they have gone on to achieve in adulthood and beyond.

I am a proud member of the executive committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. When we look at the figures, we see that between 1949 and 2016, His Royal Highness made 229 visits to 67 Commonwealth nations without the Queen—that was on top of all the additional visits he made around the Commonwealth. He was a great believer in the Commonwealth. He worked, not just through his patronages and visits to different countries, to ensure that the Commonwealth adapted and grew into the family of nations that it is today. From the collective grief around the Commonwealth, we can clearly see the impact that he had as the Queen’s consort and as a great supporter of the Commonwealth of nations that so many of us are proud to have an association with.

Finally, many Members have talked of service: service to Her Majesty the Queen as consort, and service to our country. The one thing on which many Members have commented, but which not everyone knew about His Royal Highness, was his service in the armed forces: it was the bedrock of his service to this country. He first came here as a refugee, following the instructions of George VI and George V, when there were evacuations from Greece for the Greek royal family. His service began because he was grateful for the support that he had received from this country. Serving in the armed forces meant he had a bedrock of commitment to this country that most of us now can only envy. He regarded serving in the military, then taking a step back when Her Royal Highness became Queen at such a young age, as his raison d’être for life, ensuring that the Queen had the support to do her job. I hope, as the Queen and the royal family look back on his life, that, as all grieving families do, they will see that across the House and the nation we are grateful for his service and for the dedication that he showed all of us and which he showed Her Majesty. May he rest in peace.