Queen Elizabeth II: Leadsom shares Princess Charlotte story

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Dame Andrea Leadsom has shared a heartwarming story about Princess Charlotte with MPs as Parliament gathered to pay tribute to Britain’s departed sovereign, Elizabeth II. MPs are exchanging memories of the Queen’s life as politicians on all sides of the House paid tribute to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. 

Ms Leadsom recalled a conversation with the Queen at Sandringham Castle during a Privy Council meeting one January.

“I recall the Queen saying what a very busy Christmas she turned and I suggested well at least her family don’t need to pause Christmas lunch for the Queen’s speech. Which, she told me they most certainly did,” she informed MPs.

“For all of us, her family would pause lunch and watch the Queen’s speech and Princess Charlotte had run over to the TV screen and said look, there’s GanGan!

“Very heartwarming, at each of the audiences, it would strike me a new that Privy Council meetings were just one of the many daily duties of the Queen, and that’s her cheerfulness and her twinkling eyes were always a constant.”

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Elizabeth, who died aged 96, was remembered during a minute’s silence led by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

The Commons and Lords will sit on Friday and Saturday to allow tributes to the Queen. Proceedings will pause at approximately 6pm while Charles makes his address to the nation.

Prime Minister Liz Truss has insisted Britain must show it does not fear what lies ahead after “our lives changed forever” following the death of its “icon” Queen.

Ms Truss said the King “bears an awesome responsibility that he now carries for all of us”, adding: “Even as he mourns, his sense of duty and service is clear.”

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Ms Truss told the Commons: “On the death of her father King George VI, Winston Churchill said the news had stilled the clatter and traffic of 20th century life in many lands.

“Now 70 years later in the tumult of the 21st century life has paused again. Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.”

Ms Truss said the Queen “remained determined to carry out her duties” even at the age of 96, noting: “It was just three days ago at Balmoral that she invited me to form a Government and become her 15th prime minister.

“Again she generously shared with me her deep experience of government, even in those last days.”

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Ms Truss said the Queen’s devotion “remains an example to us all” and hailed her for having “reinvented the monarchy for the modern age”.

She said: “Her late Majesty’s image is an icon for what Britain stands for as a nation, on our coins, on our stamps, and in portraits around the world. Her legacy will endure through the countless people she met, the global history she witnessed, and the lives that she touched.

“She was loved and admired by people across the United Kingdom and across the world. One of the reasons for that affection was her sheer humanity.

“She reinvented monarchy for the modern age. She was a champion of freedom and democracy around the world. She was dignified but not distant. She was willing to have fun.”

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