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Vol. 811 Monday No. 212 12 April 2021 PARLIAMENTARYDEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICIAL REPORT ORDEROFBUSINESS His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Motion for an Humble Address.....................................................................................1055 Lords wishing to be supplied with these Daily Reports should give notice to this effect to the Printed Paper Office. No proofs of Daily Reports are provided. Corrections for the bound volume which Lords wish to suggest to the report of their speeches should be clearly indicated in a copy of the Daily Report, which, with the column numbers concerned shown on the front cover, should be sent to the Editor of Debates, House of Lords, within 14 days of the date of the Daily Report. This issue of the Official Report is also available on the Internet at https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2021-04-12 In Hybrid sittings, [V] after a Member’s name indicates that they contributed by video call. The following abbreviations are used to show a Member’s party affiliation: Abbreviation Party/Group CB Cross Bench Con Conservative DUP Democratic Unionist Party GP Green Party Ind Lab Independent Labour Ind LD Independent Liberal Democrat Ind SD Independent Social Democrat Ind UU Independent Ulster Unionist Lab Labour Lab Co-op Labour and Co-operative Party LD Liberal Democrat LD Ind Liberal Democrat Independent Non-afl Non-affiliated PC Plaid Cymru UKIP UK Independence Party UUP Ulster Unionist Party No party affiliation is given for Members serving the House in a formal capacity, the Lords spiritual, Members on leave of absence or Members who are otherwise disqualified from sitting in the House. © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2021, this publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 1055 His Royal Highness: The Prince Philip[12 APRIL 2021] His Royal Highness: The Prince Philip 1056 House of Lords attended countless times alongside Her Majesty the Queen for the State Opening of Parliament. The images Monday 12 April 2021 of them walking through the Royal Gallery and seated 1 pm on the Thrones behind me are some of the most iconic of our age. Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Gloucester. Looking beyond the splendour and pageantry,however, it is an image that goes to the heart of their relationship. A minute’s silence was observed in memory of His Royal It speaks of patience, constancy and fidelity. The Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. visible presence of Prince Philip alongside Her Majesty the Queen for over seven decades provides a glimpse His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, into the unique role he played in private, supporting Duke of Edinburgh Her Majesty and serving the Crown humbly and selflessly. Motion for an Humble Address Today, we give thanks for the sacrifices he made and for the immeasurable good that he did. His legacy will 1.06 pm live on, as will our sincere gratitude. Moved by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park I now call on the Lord Privy Seal to move the Motion for the humble Address. To move that a Humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows— 1.12 pm “Most Gracious Sovereign, The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, Park) (Con): My Lords, we are here today to remember the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament and pay tribute to the life of His Royal Highness The assembled, beg leave to convey to Your Majesty the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as we mourn the heartfelt sympathy of this House on the death of loss of the “strength and stay” to Her Majesty, our His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of country and the Commonwealth. However, we also Edinburgh. gather to commemorate and celebrate Prince Philip’s Prince Philip gave selfless public service to the extraordinary life, distinguished by decades of dutiful, United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for over loyal and selfless service. seventy years. He will be remembered for His He was the embodiment of public service in the distinguished Naval service in the Second World truest sense. On his retirement, at the age of 96, War and, following marriage to Your Majesty, for Buckingham Palace revealed that he had undertaken His energy and commitment across so many areas 22,191 solo engagements, made 635 overseas visits on of national life, including conservation, science and his own account, delivered 5,493 speeches and authored technology, design, sport and Your Armed Forces. 14 books. He was colonel-in-chief of eight regiments His major achievement in creating the Duke of and was patron, president or otherwise associated Edinburgh Award Scheme has transformed the lives with 992 different organisations. He served honourably of millions of young people around the world. and with distinction in the Second World War, being Above all His role at the side of Your Majesty, mentioned in dispatches for his service aboard supporting Your life of service as our Sovereign HMS “Valiant” during the Battle of Cape Matapan. and encouraging the work of Your family, has been This was only the beginning of a promising naval a steadfast presence for us all. career. He later took command of his own ship, We assure YourMajesty that His memory will be HMS “Magpie”, and it is widely considered that he held dear by those who knew Him and honoured in would have reached the very highest ranks of the Navy the history of our country. Our prayers join with had he continued his full-time service. In almost a those of the entire nation for His Royal Highness, century, he lived through the invention of the jet and for Your Majesty and all the Royal Family at engine, man setting foot on the moon and the creation this sad time of loss and sorrow.” of the internet. After Her Majesty acceded to the throne,Prince Philip’s The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler): My Lords, it is devoted service spanned the terms of 14 British Prime right that we come together today, in person and Ministers—Sir Winston Churchill being the first—as virtually, to pay tribute to His Royal Highness The well as countless leaders across the Commonwealth Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Our thoughts are and beyond. Within the Commonwealth in particular, first and foremost with Her Majesty the Queen, who Prince Philip was highly respected and held in deep has lost the person whom she described as her “strength affection. He understood long before others how the and stay”. The humble Address rightly conveys the modern Commonwealth network was and is, in Her heartfelt sympathy of this House and assures Her Majesty’s own words, Majesty and all the Royal Family of our prayers. “in many ways the face of the future”. Together with them, we mourn. Prince Philip was a modern man, a trailblazer ahead The nation and the whole Commonwealth has lost of his time, from becoming one of the youngest first one of its greatest figures, but let us also remember lieutenants in the Royal Navy to being appointed the that he was a Member of this House. He was introduced first president of the World Wildlife Fund UK. He on 21 July 1948, just before Earl Mountbatten of was passionate about engineering and industry,a pioneer Burma—someone who was supremely formative in his of the sport of carriage driving and a champion early life. Although he never spoke in this House, he of environmental causes long before they became 1057 His Royal Highness: The Prince Philip[LORDS] His Royal Highness: The Prince Philip 1058 [BARONESS EVANS OF BOWES PARK] Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh and the press mainstream. I was one of the millions of young people coverage of his extraordinary life, so many have said, who benefited from the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in some admiration, “I didn’t know that”. For a man scheme, completing the bronze, silver and gold awards who lived most his life in the full glare of public while at school. It was the DofE, as it is known in interest and attention, that is unusual. It illustrates not families across the country, that first taught me the just the longevity of his life or his position, but his importance of public service. For my community service, interests, contribution and personality, and the range I volunteered in a mental health centre and in a care and depth of his public service. home—experiences that I remember to this day and Across the world, he is of course best known for which helped shape the person I am. This remarkable being the person Her Majesty the Queen described as scheme now inspires and empowers young people in “my strength and stay”. That statement, in its simplicity, over 140 countries across the world and will remain a captures the essence and significance of his role as her fitting and lasting legacy. consort. For anyone in public life, but especially in the I had the honour of meeting the Duke of Edinburgh role and for the work expected of Her Majesty, the most recently at a lunch following a Privy Council need for someone whom you can trust, love, admire meeting at Windsor. I could not help but feel nervous and rely on without reservation is essential. when I realised that I was seated next to him, but he Over the past few days, it has been very clear that immediately put me at ease with his wit and charm. He the nation, and, indeed, the world, has nothing but liked to say that he could make anyone laugh within respect, admiration and affection for his unfailing 15 seconds.