Richard Holden – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Richard Holden, the Conservative MP for North West Durham, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I rise today to pay tribute myself and on behalf of my constituents. There have already been some very moving reflections from many Members, and I have felt it a privilege to be in the Chamber in the last couple of days, especially for the contributions from my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) and the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), whose charming personal anecdotes about the Queen exemplified the private charm of someone who lived their life in the full public view. Those stories captured the affection and personal touches of a graceful sovereign who humour and kind heart transcended generations, languages and continents like no one else.

Yesterday, my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), in his traditional style, rightly noted that the Queen’s exemplary commitment to public service means that she will enter the annals of our history, and that of the world, as Elizabeth the Great. As the Prime Minister rightly remarked yesterday, the late Queen’s spirit of public service will serve as a shining example to empower and inspire future generations, including her son as he takes on his immense new task as His Majesty King Charles III.

Her late Majesty did not just live by the principles and values of public service: the length, depth and breadth of her dutiful commitment, not only to the United Kingdom but to our realms across the seas, the Commonwealth and the world, made her into essentially a human embodiment of selfless public service.

Over the past few days, one quote from Ecclesiastes has returned to me again and again:

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven”.

Throughout her life, as she grew with us, the Queen fulfilled many purposes as a constitutional monarch to passing generations: a friend, a mother, a grandmother and, in recent years, perhaps even a great-grandmother. Maybe we can find some purpose in her passing, too. Her late Majesty the Queen epitomised duty and public service, so much so that when we hear those words today, we see her and her example. She will be sorely missed, but she will never be forgotten. May she rest in peace and rise in glory. God save the King.