§ 3.6 p.m.
§ The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn)rose to move, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty to congratulate Her Majesty on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Her Accession to the Throne.
The noble and learned Lord said: My Lords, this is an historic occasion. The whole House will agree with me when I say that, as the fifth longest serving monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has had an exceptional reign.
Over the past 50 years she has met more people in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and overseas than any other monarch. She has been advised by 10 Prime Ministers, including Lord Home of the Hirsel, the last Prime Minister to sit, even if briefly, in this House. She has given Royal Assent to no fewer than 3,135 Acts of Parliament and has opened Parliament on 49 occasions. Those statistics bear witness to the quantity of work that Her Majesty has performed, but they do not describe to us the grace and dignity with which Her Majesty has reigned. It is those qualities that we celebrate today.
The past months have not been exclusively happy. We hope that tomorrow's ceremonies will mark the beginning of a brighter period for Her Majesty. We can look forward to a great season of celebrations over the coming months. We shall see country and Commonwealth join together to celebrate 50 years of Her Majesty's reign. There will be street parties, concerts, parades and tributes as all join together, with the Royal Family, to mark this splendid anniversary.
I know that your Lordships will wish to join together to thank Her Majesty for half a century of service, to offer her our affection and support. In 458 agreeing this humble Address, we express our hopes that the years ahead will be rich in joy and fulfilment for her and for the nation. I beg to move.
Moved, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty to congratulate Her Majesty on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Her Accession to the Throne.—(Lord Williams of Mostyn.)
§ Lord StrathclydeMy Lords, it is a pleasure and a delight to follow the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House in the sentiments that he has expressed. I shall be brief for I know that the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor will speak eloquently tomorrow of the deep sense of admiration and loyalty that this House bears Her Majesty the Queen.
Few in all the long generations of our monarchy have reached a Golden Jubilee: four in England and one in Scotland. This rare event is a just cause for national celebration. It should not be a "low-key" jubilee. Her Majesty deserves the fullest expression of the gratitude and affection of the nation and it is right that tomorrow this House and another place should lead in that.
Some no doubt will stress the changes that have taken place during Her Majesty's reign. I would like to stress something that has not changed since February 1952—Her Majesty's unswerving dedication to her high sense of duty to our nation and to all its people.
As others reminded us, 55 years ago as a young princess Her Majesty gave a memorable and moving pledge of service to this country and to the Commonwealth. With the constant support of Prince Philip at her side, she has never for one moment failed in that promise. Indeed, has any monarch ever given such unstinting and varied service to Britain or the Commonwealth?
This jubilee year began under the dark clouds of personal sorrow for Her Majesty. But even in those sad days, which touched so many millions of people, she was, I hope, able to see in a striking and remarkable way the deep well of affection in this country for Her Majesty and for the Crown.
Over 50 years, people in all walks of life and in all parts of the world have felt their lives enhanced by the presence of the Queen. She literally embodies the union of our kingdom. Let us hope that in her jubilee year, Her Majesty will feel ever more deeply the warmth of the respect and affection of her people which, by her service and unrivalled sense of duty, she so justly deserves.
§ Baroness Williams of CrosbyMy Lords, we on the Liberal Democrat Benches have great pleasure in associating ourselves with the remarks of the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition. We too look forward with great anticipation to the undoubtedly eloquent phrases we shall hear tomorrow from the Lord Chancellor.
I believe we all recognise that the vow taken by Her Majesty the Queen in her Cape Town speech on 21st April 1947—her 21st birthday—has been fulfilled 459 in every possible sense. Most of us when we are young have good intentions. Most of us, over the years, fall away from those good intentions. The Queen has, in every possible way, fulfilled the intentions she expressed on that occasion. I believe that the people of this country recognise that perhaps more generously and full-heartedly than sometimes do the media, as exemplified by their response to the deaths of Her Majesty the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, and their strong fellow feeling with the Queen in her bereavement.
I remind the House also that the Queen has been deeply respected and much admired by all those who have served as Prime Minister, another extremely lonely post. In this House we have the benefit of one former Prime Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Callaghan, who himself has served for 50 years and whose golden jubilee is celebrated this year. He, I know, would give full attribution to the experience and wisdom of Her Majesty in her discussions with her Prime Ministers.
Finally, as well as being Queen of the United Kingdom, the Queen is also the Head of the Commonwealth. It is important to say that 25 years ago, at her Silver Jubilee, many people would not have predicted that the Commonwealth would still be here. Not only is it still enduring; it is also expanding in size because other countries wish to join it. With her usual extraordinary felicity, when the Queen returned to South Africa in 1993, after the installation of a new democratic regime under President Mandela, it was in the townships that the signs said, "Thank you for coming back". It could hardly have been put more eloquently. Since that time both Mozambique and Cameroon have joined the Commonwealth, something we often value insufficiently.
We on these Benches are delighted to be associated with the words of respect and admiration for Her Majesty. We wish her a very happy tour of her kingdom with the support of her family and of course of her long-standing and devoted husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
§ Lord Craig of RadleyMy Lords, I thank the Lord Privy Seal for introducing this Motion. It is a great privilege to be able to congratulate Her Majesty the Queen from these Benches in the year of her Golden Jubilee. On behalf of all the Cross-Benchers I humbly express to Her Majesty our profound loyal greetings and good wishes.
Fifty years is a long time to have been always active and so utterly dedicated to duty at the heart of this nation and the Commonwealth. In no other role in life does the individual have to start off and hit the road running, as it were; and then continue to travel that road years after others who, reaching an age of honourable retirement, settle back to enjoy their grandchildren, to indulge their hobbies and other interests, to unwind and to become free of the thousand-and-one pressures that once used to crowd in upon them in their working lives.
460 Her Majesty has many fine attributes and qualities. Grace and dignity have already been mentioned and many others can be identified. If, I hope without presumption, I single out one of the many characteristics of being our Queen, it is because it is so unique and has been fulfilled in such an exemplary way.
Modern information technology, to say nothing of the methods of today's media in covering every aspect, real and imagined, of a story line makes for a permanent, or near permanent, public parade and coverage of all that is said or done. No moment of private grief, of joy, of concern about family or nation, escapes today's paparazzi attention. The telephoto lens and eavesdropping devices abound. They can never be safely ignored. To have been blessed with Her Majesty's constant, long and total dedication to her duty and to her subjects against a background of coverage unique in its intrusiveness is without any parallel in previous generations.
I pay tribute also to the fine supporting role that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh has played as consort throughout the Queen's years of commitment and service to the nation. Unalloyed admiration, genuine warmth of feeling and heartfelt congratulations from all her subjects on her Golden Jubilee are richly deserved by Her Majesty. Long may she reign over us.
§ 3.15 p.m.
The Archbishop of CanterburyMy Lords, from the Lords Spiritual I rise to support the Motion. The politicians among us have rightly remarked on the wisdom and knowledge which Her Majesty brought to the government of her kingdom, and the diligence with which she attends to the affairs of state. I want to pay tribute to a different kind of wisdom.
The noble Baroness, Lady Williams, mentioned that on her 21st birthday the Queen committed herself to our nation. The actual words were to invite us to go forward together with an unwavering faith, high courage and a quiet heart, promising to dedicate her whole life to the national service. Just five years later, looking ahead to her Coronation, Her Majesty asked all her people around the world to pray for her; that God would give her the wisdom and strength to fulfil those awesome coronation promises to rule lawfully, to judge mercifully and to uphold His Church. How magnificently those prayers have been answered.
Through 50 years of profound change and upheaval, Her Majesty the Queen has been the steadfast heart of a worldwide family of nations and peoples setting the finest examples of faithful Christian service; of duty born with courage and joy; of loyalty, dignity and sacrifice. As we look forward to a summer of jubilee celebrations I want simply to say this. We have been richly blessed to have had such a person as our gracious sovereign. We thank God for her and for her husband Prince Philip, whose magnificent support has contributed so much to a remarkable reign. Today we pay grateful tribute for all that they have given and continue to give to our nation, our Commonwealth and our world.
461 On Question, Motion agreed to nemine dissentiente; and it was ordered that the said Address be presented to Her Majesty by the whole House in Westminster Hall tomorrow at eleven o'clock.