Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Dave Doogan Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dave Doogan (Angus) (SNP)]

I rise to speak to the memory of Her late Majesty the Queen on behalf of my many Angus constituents who held her close in their affections. The Queen was a very popular figure across much of Scotland and especially in Angus. That fondness was a consequence of her personal characteristics, such as her demeanour, warmth and character, much more than any sort of institutional devotion.

The Queen’s length of service over seven decades afforded people a sense of continuity and stability in a world that changed immeasurably over her reign. Her great appreciation for Scotland and Angus is a source of great pride for many Scots. Her mother was a child of Angus, being born in Glamis, and Her Majesty visited Angus multiple times. She was in Kirriemuir in 1969 and returned in 2004, when she also visited Arbroath and Forfar at the same time. It is well understood that she was happiest at Balmoral in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, and her very public fondness for her highland home was naturally also a source of pride in Scotland. The astonishing landscape in which Balmoral is set is adjacent to our iconic Angus glens, so I know keenly why the Queen valued her time in this part of Scotland so much. I believe it must have been a great comfort to her to be there in her final hours with her family around her.

Unlike many hon. Members, I did not get to meet the late Queen, but as a four-year-old in Perth, I can still remember the excitement in the streets as we queued and waited for the still quite young Queen to pass as part of her silver jubilee celebrations in 1977. Again in Perth in 2012, as a local councillor, I witnessed her incredible professionalism, charm and patience as she presented the keys to the city and restored Perth to city status as part of her diamond jubilee celebrations.

I wish to extend my condolences to the millions of people grieving at the death of Her late Majesty, but death, especially the death of a mother, bears hardest on the family, no matter who she is, so I convey my sympathies to all her family. The Queen was also a defender of her faith. She took that role very seriously and, as such, demonstrated her outstanding credentials as a committed Christian. When I pray for the repose of her soul, I have great confidence that she will now be in the arms of God. May she rest in peace.