§ 2.5 p.m.
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE (VISCOUNT HAILSHAM) rose to move—
§ "That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, to congratulate Her Majesty and His Royal Highness the Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, on the birth of a Son; and to assure Her Majesty that every addition to Her Majesty's happiness affords the highest satisfaction to the House of Lords."
§ The noble and learned Viscount said: My Lords, in the absence of my noble friend the Leader of the House, I rise to move a Motion which I feel will command your Lordships' unanimous assent. Before I do so, I have been asked by my noble friend the Leader of the House to express his regret to your Lordships at his inability to be here on this occasion.
§ It is more than 100 years since a reigning Sovereign gave birth to a Royal child, and the restrained and traditional language of the Motion that I have just moved can only, I think, convey a small part of the sincere and profound feelings which your Lordships will wish to convey to Her Majesty and the Prince Philip on this occasion. It is actually 107 years since a Motion in virtually the same words was last carried here to congratulate Queen Victoria, herself the common ancestress of the Royal Parents on this occasion, on the birth of a new Prince of the Royal House; and, speaking for myself, I find this circumstance alone most moving. In an age when so much has passed away, the love and devotion of your Lordships' House 194 and of the British people, and, I would say now, of our entire family of nations, for the Crown and the wearer of the Crown have not passed away, but rather have increased and grown in depth and sincerity with the passage of the years. That this has been so has been due in no small degree to a succession of generations of Members of the Royal Family, not only confined to the Sovereign, who have won the love of this people by lives of example and service which have inspired us all.
§ My Lords, we now have to welcome a new Member of a new generation to carry on this tradition. We welcome him with joy at the birth of another precious human life to a Family which all are united to honour. We welcome him also with thankfulness at the safe delivery of a beloved Sovereign from a human ordeal which, because of its universality, must serve in itself to knit her and her subjects ever more closely together in mind and spirit. I have found myself reflecting in recent days, as no doubt others of your Lordships will have done, when I saw the crowds beginning to gather about the Palace as they always do when something affecting the Royal Family is taking place, how immensely fortunate we are in this country with our system of government under which the symbol of authority is carried, not by an individual tarnished even to the smallest degree by political controversy, past or present, but by the head of a Family all the more loved because its work is shared by many members and all the more intimately united with the people to-day because it is presided over by a young and radiant mother who is the Sovereign of us all.
§ My Lords, the young Prince will, God willing, grow up with our children and our children's children to a life of service and opportunity, and to-day the hearts of a united Parliament, a united people, and, I would say, a united Commonwealth, will go forth in congratulation to his Royal Parents, and in prayer for the blessing of Almighty God upon what we hope will be a long, a fruitful and a happy life on earth. My Lords, I beg to move.
§ Moved, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, to congratulate Her Majesty and His Royal Highness the Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh on the 195 birth of a Son; and to assure Her Majesty that every addition to Her Majesty's happiness affords the highest satisfaction to the House of Lords.—(Viscount Hailsham.)
§ 2.13 p.m.
§ LORD PETHICK-LAWRENCEMy Lords, my noble Leader had every intention of being here to support this Motion this afternoon, but I presume he has mistaken the hour and so has not arrived in time. Therefore, on behalf of noble Lords who sit behind me on these Benches, I have the deepest satisfaction in associating ourselves with the remarks made by the noble and learned Viscount the Deputy Leader of the House. We feel very keenly in support of what he has said; his remarks have found an echo in all our hearts. We know that not only is there respect and loyalty to the Crown, but also there is a deep feeling of love and affection which is reflected in the hearts of all the citizens of this country and of the other parts of the Commonwealth.
We feel drawn to Her Majesty by the familiar signs of ordinary human life: by the children that she has already had; by this new baby that has come into her home; and, if I may add a further note, by her grief which she has suffered only in the last few days since the little baby was born, in the loss of two Members of the Royal House. I have the greatest pleasure in asking that those sitting with me on these Benches should be associated with the remarks made by the noble Viscount the Deputy Leader of the House and in the terms of this Motion.
§ 2.15 p.m.
LORD REAMy Lords, I rise from these Benches to support wholeheartedly and without reservation the Resolution so finely moved by the noble Viscount the Deputy Leader of the House. Throughout the civilised world during this last week-end there has, I think, arisen a personal happiness in the hearts of many millions of people. There is, of course, the inward happiness that a new and so welcome little life has started (as most human life does) with love and with all the cherishing and good wishes of unselfishness. But there is also an outward happiness that this infant prince who 196
… wears upon his baby-brow the round And top of sovereigntyas Shakespeare said, comes to give joy to his own circle and to his own Family, whose happiness we so sincerely desire, not only from loyalty, not only from gratitude for the magnificent way in which they apply themselves to their duties, but also from the plain human emotions, as the noble Lord has just said, of admiration and particularly of affection.To Her Majesty and to His Royal Highness the Duke we respectfully offer, with our humble duties, our most sincere felicitations; and to the infant Prince, whose public life will inexorably start almost as soon as he has a name, might I venture to quote a little poem of William Blake:
'I have no name:I am but two days old.'What shall I call thee?'I happy am,Joy is my name.'Sweet joy befall thee!My Lords, I beg to support the Motion.
§ 2.17 p.m.
THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDONMy Lords, in the absence of the most reverend Primates, both of whom have expressed their regret that they cannot be present to speak upon this Motion, I am proud to have the privilege of adding a word. We are indeed thankful to Almighty God that our Queen's joy in motherhood—a joy so apparent to all her people already—has been increased by the birth of a Prince. Princess Beatrice, the last child to be born to a Queen regnant, was always, to use the words of another of the prayers authorised for this present occasion, "a comfort to her mother". Some of us may have the impression that Queen Victoria was a rather absorbing mother. We are sure that this little boy whose birth we are now celebrating has parents who will wish him to lead a life of his own and to make his own contribution to the life of this Commonwealth.
Finally, may I say that in our rejoicings at the safe birth of this baby to Her Majesty it is right that we should remember and be thankful for the progress of medical science. Though it may be that there is still improvement to be made, never has childbirth been safer for mother and child than it is at 197 present; and never, I suppose, has a people been able to feel more confident about the outcome of a confinement than on this happy occasion. It is right that we should remember this and be grateful for it.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to, nemine dissentiente: the said Address to be presented to Her Majesty by the Lords with White Staves.