It is a privilege to speak today on behalf of the people of Darlington in support of this Humble Address. The death of the Duke of Edinburgh last Friday marks the end of a life of service to our country. My thoughts and prayers, and those of my constituents, are with Her Majesty the Queen, who has lost her husband of 73 years, and with the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex, who have lost their father.
The prince’s first trip to Darlington in 1955 was to open a new high school for girls—a trip that included the inspection of Darlington’s Locomotion No. 1 and the engine Derwent, which at that time were located at Bank Top station, before travelling to Hummersknott along streets that were lined with thousands of people. In 1960, the prince again visited a local school that is now known as St Aidan’s Academy. Perhaps the best remembered visit of His Royal Highness was in 1967, when he came along with Her Majesty the Queen to celebrate the centenary of Darlington’s borough status. It was on this trip that Darlington was presented by the Queen with supporters to its coats of arms, underlined by the motto “Optima Petamus”—let us seek the best—something that I believe the prince lived and served by.
The prince’s lasting legacy will undoubtedly be his commitment to supporting young people through the life-changing opportunities of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Indeed, two young men from my constituency were interviewed by the BBC in recent days, and they acknowledged that were it not for the awards programme, they might very well be in prison.
The prince’s life spanned almost a century, and he saw the rise and fall of ideologies and the dawn of the digital age while profound change was taking place in our country. Throughout it all, the prince remained a loyal and dutiful servant of the woman he loved and the country he came to call his own. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
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