On behalf of my constituents and the citizens of Sheffield, I pay tribute to the Queen and associate myself with the wonderful comments made from both sides of the House this afternoon.
I met the late Queen on a number of occasions as a Member of Parliament, but I want to refer to the first time I met her back in May 1991, when I was leader of Sheffield Council and she came to open the Sheffield Arena. We built a raised walkway into the middle of the arena for the opening, and I had to walk alongside her down to the microphones. Before we did the walk, royal officials came to me and said “Councillor Betts, there is a rather steep drop on one side of the walkway. Make sure you are on that side of the Queen when you walk along.”
Before we began the official opening, the Queen talked to me and others with knowledge and understanding of what was going on in the city, of the loss of jobs in steel and engineering, and of the effect on people’s lives and employment. She showed empathy for what was happening in our city. When we walked out to do the opening, there was a trumpet voluntary—we do things properly in Sheffield. The Queen stopped after a little bit and said, “Do you think they have seen us come in?” I said, “Your Majesty, they don’t normally do trumpet voluntaries for the leader of the council.” Then she said, “Do you know what we do next?” I said, “I rather hoped that you’d done this sort of thing before.” But she had a laugh; she enjoyed the opening. She put me at ease and I relaxed.
My simple memories of the Queen, from that and future occasions, were of someone with a real understanding of, and interest in, the issues of concern to her subjects and my constituents. She had a personal warmth and a lovely sense of humour, and she put me at ease through her approach at a time when I was frankly extremely nervous, though she took what was happening in her stride. On behalf of my constituents, I simply say thank you to an incredible sovereign for an incredible life of service. God save the King.
5.50 pm