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Statement on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
This is our country’s saddest day. In the hearts of every one of us there is an ache at the passing of our Queen, a deep and personal sense of loss — far more intense, perhaps, than we expected.
In these first grim moments since the news, I know that millions and millions of people have been pausing whatever they have been doing, to think about Queen Elizabeth, about the bright and shining light that has finally gone out.
She seemed so timeless and so wonderful that I am afraid we had come to believe, like children, that she would just go on and on. Wave after wave of grief is rolling across the world, from Balmoral — where our thoughts are with all the Royal Family — and breaking far beyond this country and throughout that great Commonwealth of nations that she so cherished and which cherished her in return.
As is so natural with human beings, it is only when we face the reality of our loss that we truly understand what has gone. It is only really now that we grasp how much she meant for us, how much she did for us, how much she loved us.
As we think of the void she leaves, we understand the vital role she played, selflessly and calmly embodying the continuity and unity of our country.We think of her deep wisdom, and historic understanding, and her seemingly inexhaustible but understated sense of duty. Relentless though her diary must have felt, she never once let it show, and to tens of thousands of events — great and small — she brought her smile and her warmth and her gentle humour — and for an unrivalled 70 years she spread that magic around her Kingdom.
This is our country’s saddest day because she had a unique and simple power to make us happy. That is why we loved her. That is why we grieve for Elizabeth the Great, the longest serving and in many ways the finest monarch in our history.
It was one of her best achievements that she not only modernised the constitutional monarchy, but produced an heir to her throne who will amply do justice to her legacy, and whose own sense of duty is in the best traditions of his mother and his country.
Though our voices may still be choked with sadness we can say with confidence the words not heard in this country for more than seven decades.
Boris Johnson finally got something right on 22:09 - Sep 8 by azuremerlangus
The wording wasn’t bad - just her poor delivery.
Yeah, listening aga8n, maybe your right. That’s the thing with Johnson - his oratory could take the ordinary and with a flourish of words and a clever illustration capture peoples attention. He’s made a career of it!
I was thinking earlier that BoJo's just missed his chance here - he'd have been much better for the presser (as long as he didn't make any stupid jokes and ruin it). To say he's a better orator than Truss is somewhat of an understatement.
BUT, that iconic picture of the Queen sitting alone in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, mourning her husband the night after no 10 staffers were boozing it up in breach of lockdown laws, is exactly why BJ shouldn't be anywhere near this officially. He'd have tainted her memory.
Truss did well to get the big words like 'queen' right, so credit where it's due. Her..pauses..while..she..tries..to..form..the..sound..of..each..word..in..her..head..before..saying...it were slightly shorter than usual, so she must have been practicing.
Starmer's is 'interesting'. Has he trained as a lay preacher? I could imagine him delivering this sermon to his congregation from the pulpit.
Shame he couldn't show proper respect to her in her lifetime through his actions, instead of relying on fine words written by someone else in tribute after her death.
Boris Johnson finally got something right on 16:48 - Sep 9 by strikalite
He didn’t write it & he doesn’t mean it, it’s another zip wire moment, I’m surprised he hasn’t got his jcb hi vis on or some other building firm that lined his pockets, I can’t believe how gullible some people are, it will be in his manifesto when he makes a comeback about how he had the longest tribute
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