Paul Girvan – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Paul Girvan, the DUP MP for South Antrim, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

It is an honour and a privilege to take part in the debate paying tribute to our greatest Queen. Many of us in the Chamber probably knew no other monarch. A great debt of gratitude is owed to the royal family and to the Queen for the service she gave not only to this nation but to the Commonwealth, and the duty that she performed in that.

I did get to meet the Queen. As has been said, everyone seems to have known her. I think a statistic came out in recent days stating that 31% of the population of the United Kingdom had either met or been introduced to the Queen. That is a tremendous number of people in a population the size of the United Kingdom’s.

I met King Charles III when he was Prince Charles. When introducing a group of people to him, I made the mistake of putting my hand around his shoulder, as I tend to do, and I was threatened with being thrown into the Tower! When I was asked at a Hillsborough garden party to introduce a group of 10 people to Her Majesty, I remembered that I had committed that crime, and I made sure not to put my arm around her.

It is with fondness that I remember the Queen. Everyone has mentioned how she had this bright, vibrant way, but some in our community could not tolerate her. She came to Northern Ireland to open the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, on 4 July 1966. A gentleman there decided that he would throw a brick from a building on to the Queen’s car, and he was arrested by police officer Sergeant John McIver, who has since died. That man had hatred for our monarch in him, but she showed grace and continued in her duties for that day as though nothing had happened. That says far more about the Queen.

I say thank you to the Queen and to her family for what they have done. God save the King.