DEATH OF HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF NORWAY. (Hansard, 21 November 1938)

§ The Prime Minister
I beg to move, 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 Majesty the Queen of Norway; to condole with His Majesty on this melancholy occasion; and to pray His Majesty that he will be graciously pleased to express to His Majesty the King of Norway, the profound sympathy of this House with His Majesty and the Government and People of Norway. Three years ago my predecessor moved in this House, that a Vote of Condolence be presented to His Majesty King George V upon the death of his sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria. To-day it is my duty to move that a similar Address be presented to His Majesty King George VI, upon the death 1355 of the last surviving member of his father's family. Members of this House will have read with emotion the touching message His Majesty the King of Norway has given out. That message speaks of the end of Her Majesty's work on earth. That work was inspired throughout by the same sense of devotion to public service as distinguished the whole life of our own King George V. Her Majesty's personal taste was for quiet country things. Yet in 1905 she and her husband were called, in unprecedented circumstances, to the Throne of Norway. With devotion they addressed themselves to this, their work on earth. The measure of their success is the sense of loss and personal sympathy for His Majesty King Haakon and the members of his family that the Norwegian people feel to-day. We here mourn the death of an English Princess whose gentle influence helped so much to build up and confirm those warm feelings which we have for the Norwegian people.

§ Mr. Attlee
I rise to associate myself and my colleagues on these benches with what has been so admirably said by the Prime Minister in commending this Resolution to the House. All of us desire to join in expressing our sympathy with His Majesty the King and the Royal Family, and also with His Majesty King Haakon and the people of Norway in their bereavement. We all know how close are the ties of affection which unite the members of the Royal Family, and how deeply any severance is felt. The gracious and accomplished lady whose loss we mourn to-day was a bond of union between three peoples. The daughter of our own King Edward VII, wife of a Prince of Denmark, she was called upon at a critical moment to become Queen of Norway, which after many years had regained its independence. She brought to that high position the traditions of two great democratic countries, and rightly earned the devotion of the Norwegian people.

§ Sir A. Sinclair
I wish to support the Resolution and to associate my hon. Friends and myself with the eloquent tributes which have been paid by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to a gracious Queen and a beloved member of our Royal Family. So close and intimate are the ties between the King and his people that it is natural and inevitable 1356 for us to share his joys and his griefs. To-day we unite in expressing to him our condolence in his bereavement and our sorrow at the passing of an English Princess and Norway's Queen.