Following the sad passing of our monarch, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the Mayor will be inviting the Council to pay tribute to the Queen.
Minutes:
The Mayor invited Members to pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
It was agreed that the time allocation for this item be extended to enable all tributes from Members to be heard.
Caroline Smith:
It is exactly a fortnight that we heard the sad news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In this period so many words have been said by literally millions of people in condolences, thanks, memories, and tributes, that whatever I say will probably have been said already.
It is my great honour to begin tonight by leading the Council’s own tributes to her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth. This great lady has been part of this nation’s shared consciousness for so many years. Many of us here tonight, have only ever known this one great monarch. I am sure we have all shared our grief with the nation during the recent time of mourning. King Charles described his mother’s life as ‘a life well lived.’ This is a fitting tribute to a woman who lived her life to the full, keeping her promise to the nation far beyond the expectations of one so young, before taking on the role of our Queen. We must also bear in mind that not only have we lost our Queen, but that her children have lost a beloved mother, their families have lost their wonderful grandmother and a great grandmother. It is terrible to lose one so loved.
One memory that really helps me remember our wonderful Queen, was a picture of her walking past Prince Philip who was dressed in the uniform of the Grenadier Guards, when a swarm of bees disrupted the smooth running of the ceremony at Windsor. The photographer captured the Queen perfectly in a fit of giggles. We will never forget how central our Queen was to all our lives, across Wokingham, the nation, the Commonwealth, and the world. We must remember and celebrate her life of service and devotion as we struggle with our loss. Thank you Ma’am.
Clive Jones:
The passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will have touched many people throughout the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and indeed the whole world. Queen Elizabeth II was a towering global personality and an outstanding leader. She dedicated her life to making the nation, the Commonwealth, and the entire world, a better place. As a 21 year old she dedicated her life to one of service to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth – a promise she wonderfully kept. This is an example to so many people and a huge example to anyone in, or aspiring to public service. She reminded us of important underrated qualities; duty, dedication, stability, an aim for unity, dignity, calm, unfaltering, a lengthy 70 years of a lifetime of service. Everyone will have special memories of her reign. Many will remember her parachuting in, to open the Olympic Games in 2012 with James Bond, and the celebration of her 70 years on the throne with a cup of tea and Paddington Bear. Even at 96 she was a thoroughly modern sovereign.
I was privileged to meet her during the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977. She did a walkabout after the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. I, and some of my friends had stood outside St Paul’s all night. We had a very good place to watch as the dignitaries arrived to attend the service. When it finished, she appeared at the Cathedral door. She turned right and began to walk down the steps. I knew at that moment she was walking straight towards me. Seconds later she was standing in front of me. ‘Where have you come from?’ she asked. ‘How long have you been here?’ ‘Have you had a good time?’ I was the first person that she spoke to following the service, and I have several books on the Royal Family that record that, which are certainly treasured memories for me.
She once famously said ‘life is full of first meetings and final goodbyes.’ She was so right. Everyone that met her will remember their meeting with her. I certainly did and will certainly remember our final goodbye with her on Monday. Many residents of Wokingham will also have treasured memories of meeting Her Majesty, which they will be recalling at this sad time. Many of them will also have attended the lying in state in Westminster Hall and queued for many hours to pay their respects to her. Others will have lined the route of the funeral at Westminster Abbey. I know of neighbours who went to Windsor to stand along the Long Walk as the Queen came home to her final resting place in the Castle. There was a graceful dignity about all the proceedings, which would have touched many who attended these events, and watched them on television. Whilst we mourn the Queen, we should remember that her family have lost a mother, a grandmother and a great grandmother. The grief on the faces of the Royal Family was very clear for all of us to see. I thought King Charles’ card which said ‘in loving and devoted memory’, was very heartfelt. King Charles said thank you to his mother in his televised address to the nation last week. He was not just speaking for himself and his family, but also for the nation, the Commonwealth, and indeed the whole world when he thanked her for a lifetime of service. We should also be saying thank you to King Charles for the start of his reign, building on the tradition and modernisation of the monarchy, which was started by his mother. Many of us will have been impressed that he has been able to go amongst crowds, particularly in London, and share his grief with people who have been to Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and elsewhere to express their condolences. Queen Elizabeth made history, she was history, and Madam Mayor, she will never be forgotten.
Pauline Jorgensen:
I am honoured to be able to pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen following her funeral this week. Her Majesty had a special place in our hearts, as was clearly demonstrated once more in the days following her death, with people of all generations, nationalities, creeds, and colours queuing across Edinburgh and then again across London for many hours to pay their respects. We owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude. She was always there for us during her 70 year reign. In good times and bad, she was truly dedicated to the people of the Commonwealth, working right up to her last days with dogged commitment. We will never forget her kindness, her dedication to her duty, and her lovely smile. May she rest in peace.
Rachel Burgess (on behalf of the Labour Group):
The late Queen Elizabeth’s life of duty, service and dedication to our country has been an example to us all. Many of us have felt a major shift in our lives these past weeks as Queen Elizabeth has been an ever present, calm and wise presence in our lives for an astonishing 70 years. Even avowed republicans have shed tears at the news of the passing of this remarkable woman. These recent weeks have manifestly shown the extent to which she was loved and respected in Wokingham, the United Kingdom, and the world over. She approached her many years of service always with dignity and compassion. Our heart go out to the Royal Family, and our thoughts are with them as they continue their period of mourning, along with the many, many people whose lives she touched.
Jim Frewin:
Our Queen, we have much to thank you for – for being such a shining exemplar of dedication and to public service; for showing that historical organisations and long standing plans can successfully evolve and adapt to meet changing times; for showing that successful leadership can be achieved with dignity, humility, compassion, and with humour; for showing that family can always be a priority no matter what. For all of these things we thank you, but most of all we simply thank you for being you, and for being our Queen. God bless and may you rest in peace.
Stephen Conway:
Whenever anyone we knows dies, we feel a sense of loss. Sympathy for the family of the deceased mixed with memories of the loss of our own loved ones, and a heightened sense of our own mortality. In this case the enormous outpouring of grief indicates the high regard in which the Queen was held, not just in this country, but across the world. Many of us have been struck by the incredible sight of queues of people stretching for miles to see the Queen lying in state. The dedication of those people waiting patiently for hours and hours to pay their respects fills us with admiration and a sense that someone very important to so many lives has left the stage.
Over the last few days, I have been asking myself why the Queen’s death has evoked such an impressive response. To mention her striking beauty as a princess and then as Queen, her captivating smile, her sense of humour, her warmth of personality, and ease of manner, is, I would suggest only to focus on the most superficial causes of her popularity. In part of course of the explanation, is the length of her reign. Very few of us were born when her father was on the throne. All of our lives she has been a reassuring constant in a rapidly changing world. She has been the mother, the grandmother, and great grandmother of the nation. To get to the essence of her appeal to so many people including many who are agnostic of the monarchy or even republican in sentiment, we have to recognise the quality that the Archbishop of Canterbury emphasised on Monday – her selfless sense of duty and her commitment to public service. If we can try in our own sphere to follow the lead that she has given, that would be our lasting tribute.
Beth Rowland:
Many years ago, I remember seeing ‘The King is dead’ on the boards outside the paper shop. I had learned to sing God Save the King at school although I did not understand who the King was. I think I was about 7. The following year 1953 my Nana bought a 9 inch black and white TV, and all the street came to celebrate in her house, the coronation of this beautiful lady, who was to be our new Queen. It was a fairy tale day, even on a tiny TV. I had a gold model of that beautiful gold coach, and a round jigsaw puzzle of the whole procession.
I went through my school life learning lots about kings and a few queens, hence my love of history today. When I married and moved to Windsor, I became even more interested as we lived in the flat across the road from the stunning castle. We visited regularly and saw the Royal Family in action on a regular basis. We saw them driving cars, the flag flying when they were in residence at the Castle, and of the course the many shops selling memorabilia. I took a real interest in Royal history. You could go into the Castle for free in those days. Then I became interested in politics and was first elected in 1991, and to this authority in 1996, and could enjoy the beautiful pictures that we have.
In 2013 I was honoured to be invited to a Royal Garden Party. By then I was a wheelchair user, and I was given a parking space right across from Buckingham Palace, and only had to get across the road in my wheelchair, where I was provided with a young serviceman in full uniform to get me into the Royal Lawns. These were over a gravel pathway - a nightmare in a wheelchair. Only someone who appreciated fine detail and thought of others would appreciate this. Our Queen had this.
We enjoyed the Garden Party and being able to go around the beautiful gardens and enjoying the sandwiches and tea in a cup and saucer, and to see the great and the good. It was the year after the Olympics and there were lots of stars there. Towards the end of the event, all disabled guests were taken to one side and lined up against the side of the Palace – not worrying at all. The Royal party; princes and princesses, dukes, and duchesses, so many of the Royal Family were there. The Queen made a beeline for people in wheelchairs and spoke to each and every one of them. We were also allowed to take photographs. I have got a photograph of the Queen talking to me, and others in the party had the same. A day to remember. I saw the graciousness in practice. May our gracious Queen rest in peace. Thank you, Ma’am, for all those years of faithful service, and now God Save the King.
Prue Bray:
I met the Queen when I accompanied my parents to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party as an unmarried daughter, so many years ago I cannot actually work out what year it was. I think it was around 1980. I remember wishing that I had worn a hat, and that she seemed so much smaller than I had imagined. I also remember that despite al the people that she had already spoken to that afternoon, she managed to sound interested when she spoke to us. I remember that wonderful smile that lit up her face, as has been mentioned so many times in recent days. That encounter with the Queen lasted perhaps 30 seconds. I am one of perhaps hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions who met her over the course of the 70 years that she reigned. Like them I have never forgotten meeting her. If the media coverage is anything to go by like them, I find myself strangely and rather unexpectedly moved by the events of the last two weeks since her death was announced, including as I am speaking now. It all feels a bit surreal. It is hard to imagine this country without her. She promised to serve us all her days, and she fulfilled her promise. This is my chance to publicly say thank you Ma’am.
Imogen Shepherd-DuBey:
As a child I spent five years living in Fiji. One of our house servants insisted on taking me on a trip to her village on her own island. This involved a two day boat trip across the Pacific followed by half a day walking over land to the village.
Now this was an island with no new-fangled technology such as, roads, electricity or a public water supply. The people in this village had heard of things like telephones, tv’s and cars, but very few had actually seen one, never mind used one. Their lives revolved around fishing, hunting and farming, but there on the wall of every hut was always a picture of the Queen.
Fiji became a republic in 1987, but the Queen was still held in such high regard that they maintained the Queen as their ‘Tui Viti’, effectively the Queen of Fiji - even though she had no constitutional or legal standing. I do not yet know if this status will remain with King Charles III.
I think the point of what I am saying is that our Queen was not just the queen of the United Kingdom, she was the queen for many, many people around the world – who honoured and venerated her and were inspired by her existence. I sometimes feel that the residents of Britain often forget the wider meaning of its monarchy.
It was in Fiji where I first met the Queen for the first time – away from big crowds and the mayhem you get in the big, industrialised countries. She treated everyone who came to see her with respect, no matter their wealth or status - and I think that should be how we think of her as her legacy.
‘Moce Vinaka vaka levu’ – is what I will say – meaning goodbye and thank-you very much.
Keith Baker:
I was extremely proud and privileged to meet the Queen when she awarded me my MBE. We were all trained as to what we had to do, typical British control, and that we should address her as ‘Her Majesty’. You call her on the first conversation ‘Her Majesty’ and afterwards ‘Ma’am.’ Remember that anyone if you get to meet her, or the King should I say. It got to my time to approach her, and my nerves simply took over. I got to her, did my bowing, approached her, she shook my hand, and I immediately forgot the protocol on speaking to her. That had no effect on her. My wife who joined me on that day, said that I was talking to her for the longest of any recipient of award, but to this day I cannot remember our conversation except for one bit. She asked me where I came from and my response was ‘just down the road from where you live, just outside Reading.’ She came across with a warmth that I had not experienced before or since. For a wider perspective, she was the foundation or rock of that this great country of ours has been built on. Internationally she was revered not just in the Commonwealth but right across the world. I agree with Boris Johnson when he in his tribute called her Queen Elizabeth the Great. I really think she was the greatest woman that we have ever experienced. She will be sorely missed. She may be gone but she will live on in our hearts forever, and her legacy will be ever lasting.
Shahid Younis:
Exactly a fortnight ago, on Thursday 8th September, we heard the sad news of passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This sadness was shared by millions of people around the world, as she was admired not only in the United Kingdom, but around the commonwealth and beyond. Members of the Muslim community chanted the Arabic words of ‘Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un’ (“We surely belong to God and to Him we shall return”). This is mostly used when hearing news that a person has died). Her demise is a reminder for us all, that there is nothing eternal. We are on borrowed time. Death is the only certain thing in life. Her 70 years of reign was indeed an embodiment of grace, elegance, and dignity. She saw leadership as an act of service and utter devotion to her duty to serve. It is a leadership type that is selfless and focuses on others.
As public figures, there are many leadership lessons we can take from her life. I shall mention just three: 1. Resilience and adaptability. During her remarkable time as a monarch, the Queen lived through war and peace, recessions and times of growth, family scandals and tragedies and a global pandemic. In total, she has appointed 15 different Prime Ministers and met 14 US presidents. She saw a mind blowing social, economic, and technological changes and challenges in her lifetime and has demonstrated an extraordinary level of resilience and adaptability. 2. Creating a solid circle. Being the Queen and being in a leadership role share many common traits. One of them is that although it looks like it is a one-person job, in reality, it requires a team effort. The Queen had a solid circle of advisers that she collaborated with before making a decision. She delegated tasks and shared responsibilities with other members of the Royal Family. A great leader understands the importance of having an excellent team to collaborate with and most importantly, making the most of their different areas of expertise, experiences, and points of view. 3. Work hard but find time to do what you love – the Queen’s schedule was always manic. However, it is no secret that she always managed to balance her responsibilities with her hobbies; like football (like me, she was an Arsenal supporter), spending time with her corgis, visiting her horses, and eating sandwiches with raspberry jam (another one of my favourites). Balancing work and play, and to do the things that make you truly happy is an incredibly important lesson for busy leaders.
Lastly, our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this difficult time. Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II will be greatly missed by all. May she rest in peace.