Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Lord Shipley Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, today we are celebrating 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the realms and the Commonwealth by Her Majesty the Queen. She is, as we have heard, the longest-reigning sovereign in British history. She has seen enormous change from the immediate post-war period to today. Those worlds are so very different, but the values of our society have remained the same and Her Majesty the Queen has led us in maintaining those values through changing times by personal example. She has led our transition from Empire, through a changing and developing Commonwealth, to reconciliation with others through her visits to Ireland and Germany.

Like others, I have very fond memories of the coronation period in 1953. I remember going to a church hall at the age of seven to receive my coronation mug—I am very proud of that mug and I still have it. I remember watching the Coronation on a flickering black and white television set at our local doctor’s house. It was the latest technology that we all aspired to. I also remember so well the coronation sports day, with the egg and spoon race, the sack race and the three-legged race. I was not particularly good at any of those three.

In more recent years, I have attended official visits of the Queen to Newcastle upon Tyne on several occasions: the Silver Jubilee, when she opened Eldon Square shopping centre; the openings of the Tyne and Wear Metro, the A1 western bypass, the new City Library and the Great North Museum; and, of course, the distribution of the royal Maundy money in Newcastle Cathedral in April 1990. I noticed on all these occasions that her visits and her walkabouts—to which she gave a lot of time and effort—always made a lot of people very happy. That is one reason why Her Majesty the Queen enjoys huge public support for her leadership, for her resilience and for her consistency.

She has earned our respect and our affection, in part because she is not just our Head of State; she is head of our nation. She senses our mood and provides a crucial lead at key moments such as in the recent pandemic. She promotes the values of community service and of charitable work. She celebrates success such as with all the various Queen’s awards. The nature of the monarchy and how it might change is for future generations. For now, may I just say that I think we are far better off with a Head of State who is independent of politics and political parties and who can also be the head of our nation.

In 1952 Her Majesty promised to follow her father’s selfless dedication, and she has done just that. We now have four days of celebration to mark her Platinum Jubilee and it is good to know that it is estimated that one-third of our country will be attending a street party. We say thank you to Her Majesty the Queen for her service, for her loyalty and for her devotion to our country over the past 70 years.