Peers flocked to the Lords chamber yesterday(FRI) to pay tribute to the Queen's "devotion to the happiness of her people" and her dry sense of humour.
The most lavishly decorated room in the Palace was packed, with some peers forced to sit in the middle aisle to hear colleagues share their most personal moments with the Queen.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, sparked laughter as he recounted the holding of barbecues in January at the late Queen’s country seat of Sandringham in Norfolk.
He said: “One of the greatest privileges of sitting on these benches is that within a year or so of becoming a diocesan bishop you are invited to spend a weekend at Sandringham and there, often in January, you go for a barbecue – fortitude.”
Lord Speaker Lord McFall of Alcluith said: “Her late Majesty whom we mourn today was for over 70 years a loyal and steadfast presence in the national life of the United Kingdom.
Her strong sense of public duty and her devotion to the welfare and the happiness of her people served to bind our nation together during an epoch of unprecedented societal and technological change."
Conservative peer Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Forsyth of Drumlean described how the Queen carried out her duties “without putting a foot wrong”.
Former cabinet secretary and civil service chief Lord Butler of Brockwell said the Queen’s service throughout her life “was one which many of us may aspire to, but can never attain”.
Tory former leader Lord Howard of Lympne said the late Queen was “soft power personified”.
“Much is said these days about soft power, the way in which a country can influence events without necessarily relying on military or economic clout.
“It is impossible to exaggerate the extent to which Her Majesty influenced across the world a positive perception of the United Kingdom.
“She was soft power personified."
