It is hard to find the right words to respond to the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - especially when so much has been said so well, whether by our national leaders, ordinary people across the country or world leaders such as (to pick out two particularly eloquent examples) Canada’s Justin Trudeau and President Macron of France.
Political leaders in Kent County Council sought to make our contribution in this statement, and I also had the opportunity to speak about The Queen and her connection to the county on Radio Kent yesterday. For me, the two thoughts that stay with me most strongly are the way in which The Queen’s self -effacing ethos of service (in sharp contrast to a general tendency in much contemporary culture towards celebrity and self-absorption) nonetheless led so many people to feel a personal bond with her; and how her strict adherence to being a politically neutral constitutional monarch did not prevent her from making history (as in her extraordinary visit to Ireland in 2011) or from speaking for all of us, as in her broadcast early in the pandemic.
A Book of Condolence is open at Sessions House in County Hall between 9am and 5pm every day; I had the opportunity to sign it yesterday.
Tomorrow King Charles III will be proclaimed in the County Town of Maidstone, in Jubilee Square at 12:57pm. I will attend along with the Chair, Members and Officers of the Council and all are welcome to join this event.
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