HOUSE OF LORDS Tributes to His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh © 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/. 1 [LORDS] Tributes to His Royal Highness 2 The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh House of Lords walking through the Royal Gallery and seated on the Thrones in the House of Lords Chamber are some of This collection of messages of tribute to His Royal the most iconic of our age. Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was Looking beyond the splendour and pageantry,however, arranged by the Lord Speaker. Tributes are from it is an image that goes to the heart of their relationship. Members who were unable to participate in the debate It speaks of patience, constancy and fidelity. The on the Humble Address in the House of Lords on visible presence of Prince Philip alongside Her Majesty 12 April 2021, which is published in the Official Report the Queen for over seven decades provides a glimpse (Hansard) at cols. 1055-1140. into the unique role he played in private, supporting Her Majesty and serving the Crown humbly and selflessly. Today, we give thanks for the sacrifices he made and Tributes to His Royal Highness for the immeasurable good that he did. His legacy will The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh live on, as will our sincere gratitude. Motion for a Humble Address moved in the Chamber on 12 April 2021 Lord Risby: History may well record that the reign of Queen Elizabeth II has been the most successful ever. Moved by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park Indispensable to that was Prince Philip, with his abundant common sense, energy and total support of Her Majesty, To move that a Humble Address be presented to his commitment to causes and projects that were ahead Her Majesty as follows— of their time. His life and work will unquestionably “Most Gracious Sovereign, stand the test of time, and deservedly so. We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Lord Jay of Ewelme: In 1947, my father was the assembled, beg leave to convey to Your Majesty commanding officer of a naval establishment in which the heartfelt sympathy of this House on the death Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, as he then was, served. of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of When that year he was detained longer than expected Edinburgh. at Holyrood, he wrote to my father, in a letter I now Prince Philip gave selfless public service to the have, promising to work through August to make up United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for over the lost days. I was fortunate to see this same commitment seventy years. He will be remembered for His to service, evident throughout his days in the Royal distinguished Naval service in the Second World Navy, when Prince Philip represented Her Majesty the War and, following marriage to Your Majesty, for Queen at ceremonies on the Normandy beaches when His energy and commitment across so many areas I was ambassador to France, and at the annual of national life, including conservation, science and Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Cenotaph when technology, design, sport and Your Armed Forces. I was Permanent Secretary at the FCO. It was a huge His major achievement in creating the Duke of privilege to have known him and, along with countless Edinburgh Award Scheme has transformed the lives others, to have learned from his example. I send my of millions of young people around the world. deepest sympathy to Her Majesty the Queen. Above all His role at the side of Your Majesty, supporting Your life of service as our Sovereign Lord Benyon: His Royal Highness was a unique and encouraging the work of Your family, has been personality for these times.His intellect and his fascination a steadfast presence for us all. for innovation and science meant that he could stimulate We assure YourMajesty that His memory will be discussion and be a thought leader in a way that no held dear by those who knew Him and honoured in other did or could. It is worth considering that when the history of our country. Our prayers join with he married the then Princess Elizabeth relatively few in those of the entire nation for His Royal Highness, this country owned a car or a television. There were to and for Your Majesty and all the Royal Family at be many decades before computers were a household this sad time of loss and sorrow.” item and even more before the internet was invented. He managed to see the value, and on occasions the threat, of each new innovation and apply his mind to The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler): The Humble Address how they would affect our lives. rightly conveys the heartfelt sympathy of the House of He was an environmentalist before it became Lords and assures Her Majesty and all the Royal fashionable. He would probably recoil at being called Family of our prayers. Together with them, we mourn. that, but his environmentalism was deeply practical The nation and the whole Commonwealth have lost and was born out of a clear understanding of how all one of their greatest figures, but we remember that His our lives depend on how we treat nature. It manifested Royal Highness was also a Member of the House of itself in his writing, in his leadership of global conservation Lords for many years. He was introduced on 21 July bodies and in the entirely practical way in which he 1948, just before Earl Mountbatten of Burma—someone managed the royal estates. A manager of one of those who was supremely formative in his early life. estates once told me that His Royal Highness would Although he never spoke in this House, he attended frequently come into his office and ask the one question countless times alongside Her Majesty the Queen for that needed asking and that was the most difficult the State Opening of Parliament. The images of them to answer. 3 Tributes to His Royal Highness [LORDS] Tributes to His Royal Highness 4 The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh [LORD BENYON] We have been very fortunate in the support that the That ability to be ahead of his time has sustained Royal Family have given to the local communities, and the institution of the monarchy in a way few realise. we thank them for this. His ability to push against the advice of many in his belief that the institution should embrace modern media and modern methods of communication. This Lord Carlile of Berriew: I first saw the Prince shortly has helped position the Royal Family to continue to be after the Coronation. I was a small boy standing by relevant to the vast majority of people in this country the roadside waving a flag as the new Queen and and the Commonwealth, now and in the future. Prince Philip passed by. My parents, refugees from It is these and many other attributes of this remarkable Nazism, instilled into me how lucky we all were to be man, for which we should always be grateful. living in the United Kingdom under this wonderful young couple. Lord Spencer of Alresford: His Royal Highness the The next time I saw them together was in the House Duke of Edinburgh was an extraordinary and indeed of Commons in 1983, at my first State Opening as a a genuinely great man of his generation, not only as an young MP. They shone still, now as the couple who outstanding consort to Her Majesty the Queen but as permeated and provided the foundations for our cherished a visionary of the future in terms of technology and way of life. conservation and independent opinion. We were very Of course, the Prince was much more than consort. lucky to have had him, and his departure is a great loss His vision of the environment, his strength as an to his family and to our nation. individual, his determination always to be a proud symbol of the nation that he had adopted were all Baroness Gardner of Parkes: As an Australian, I signs of his stature and his influence on British people, was one of the local residents at the time of the first young an old, whatever their origins. visit of the Queen and the Duke when they came to visit that country. The excitement of the Queen’s first royal visit was extreme. I can remember waiting in a Lord Levene of Portsoken: I had the great privilege great group of people for their arrival and the joy of meeting His Royal Highness on a number of different greeting the moment when the couple stepped on to occasions over the years and whilst acting in a number Australian soil. I believe that was in Melbourne. of different appointments. Primarily I had the most Everyone wanted to see the royal couple. My brother- frequent interface with him during my appointment as in-law Kevin, who was 6 feet 4 inches, was more than the Lord Mayor of London. He was associated with surprised when a stranger put a small ladder against several different livery companies and until very recently his frame and ran up to stand on his shoulders to was the Permanent Master of the Worshipful Company ensure that they had the view they were seeking. They of Shipwrights, of which Lady Levene is a liveryman.