His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Mark Logan Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con) [V]]

The Duke of Edinburgh represented the zeitgeist of a changing Britain. He was born just after the world last witnessed a devastating pandemic, and his contribution to humanity from 1921 to 2021 is unparalleled.

“Prince Philip saved our lives that night”—

these words, spoken by one of the Duke’s crew members, came as a result of his extraordinary bravery in world war two, when he was credited with saving HMS Wallace. Following that difficult period in world history, the Duke, with Her Majesty the Queen, brought renewed hope in the post-war period and the decades that followed. His background and influences very much represented a changing Britain. From his connections overseas to his schooling in Gordonstoun in Scotland, he was very much a man of our Union and a gentleman of the Commonwealth.

From listening to fellow MPs today, it is striking how the Duke covered every blade of grass in our kingdom. I presume that very few of us will ever know this country as well as he did. “A gentleman he was”—that is what a Boltonian said about the Duke in relation to his past visits to our town.

We hold many memorable moments close in our hearts, including visits to officially open Water Place in 1988, and more recently a visit to Warburtons in 2009, not to mention the wealth of contributions for future generations made through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Students at Bolton School, which was named the largest independent school provider of the scheme in the north-west, will continue to benefit from the Duke’s legacy.

I will end here. As the Duke said on one of his many public engagements,

“I made the best speech of my life for the Olympic Games in Melbourne, it only had 5 words”.

On behalf of everyone in Bolton North East, let me say that our thoughts and prayers are with Her Majesty the Queen and all her family at this very sad and difficult time.