DEATH OF HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS VICTORIA. (Hansard, 4 December 1935)

§ The PRIME MINISTER
I beg to move, 146 That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty to express the deep concern of this House at the loss which His Majesty has sustained by the death of Her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria, and to condole with His Majesty on this melancholy occasion; and to assure His Majesty that this House will ever participate with the most affectionate and dutiful attachment in whatever may concern the feelings and interest of His Majesty. It is only a short four years ago since the House passed a similar Resolution to this on the occasion of the death of the Princess Royal. To-day I am asking the House, as I know every Member would desire me to do, to pass a Resolution of increasing sympathy with His Majesty in the loss of another sister. It is not for me, or for any of us, to estimate the weight of particular domestic sorrows, but I always feel, though I have not been one of those fortunate enough to have either brother or sister, that there is a peculiar grief as the years roll by in the loss of one in that relationship. It is the inescapable fate of humanity, if life be prolonged, that one by one is taken away a brother or a sister who shares those fond memories of childhood and of the home, and whose loss nothing in this world can replace. As we get older, it is inevitable that the loneliness that so often comes with age must increase, and it must be a solemn day when the last one is taken from us to whom we can say, "Do you remember this or that that happened in those early days when we were all young and care-free together?"
And, while that is true of all of us, let us never forget that in the high places of this world loneliness in the later years must become more marked, not only in the case of such a loss as I have spoken of, but from the mere fact of the difficulty of making friends as life goes on, which is so much less for those not in these high positions. And so I feel to-day that, in this Motion which I am asking the House to accept and the terms 147 of which will be conveyed to His Majesty, I want him to understand that it will bring to him the deep sympathy of a House of understanding men and women. I want him to feel that we who for the time being are, as it were, sharing his responsibilities—we who may look forward at some time to some relaxation from those responsibilities—send our message to our King and to the man who can never shed his responsibilities until he is called to his eternal rest. I am confident, and I trust that His Majesty may realise, that in passing this Resolution the House is passing no mere formal Resolution, but that it is a message from the heart of everyone here to their King and to the man whom they revere.

§ Mr. ATTLEE
I rise to associate myself and my colleagues with the speech that has just come from the Prime Minister. There is little that I feel it necessary for me to add, I think the Prime Minister has expressed exactly what every Member of the House feels. I should like to say, too, that we on this side feel for His Majesty in the loss that he has sustained in his family circle. Though we only see His Majesty appearing on formal occasions, we know that behind his public appearances is a full family life, and we feel with him in the breach in those happy family relationships that has come through the death of his sister.

§ Sir A. SINCLAIR
I would ask to be allowed very briefly to support this Motion, and to associate my hon. Friends and myself with the eloquent tributes of respect and sympathy which have been 148 paid by the Prime Minister and by the Leader of the Opposition—of respect for the memory of a gracious Princess whose loss we mourn, and of sympathy with our bereaved King, whose grief we would humbly share. Surely in our whole history there can never have been a King and Queen of whom it could be said with more fullness of meaning than of our own that they reign in the hearts of their people. Whenever honour and happiness flow into their lives, their people's hearts are lifted up in simple and natural rejoicing; and when grief and sadness visit them, the hearts of their people are turned to sadness too. At Christmas we have heard His Majesty speak to all the peoples of his Empire as a father to his family, and it is indeed as a father that the British people have come to regard him and to enter into his joys and sorrows as into those of a family to which they themselves belong. We, therefore, the Commons of this Realm, do from our hearts record our deep concern at the passing of the Princess Victoria, and our sympathy with our revered, beloved and sorrowing King.