Lord Cormack: we must follow the Queen's example and bring others together

Lord Cormack said he had the "great good fortune" to meet Her Majesty several times during her reign and was always taken by her ability to relate to the British public.

He called on his fellow peers to follow the "manifest desire" of King Charles III and demonstrate "the sort of unity" the Queen stood for throughout her life.

Lord Cormack has spent more than 50 years in Parliament, mostly as Conservative MP for South Staffordshire having been first elected to represent Cannock in 1970.

Reflecting on the times he met the Queen during a speech in the Lords, he said: "I cannot pretend that I knew Her Majesty, but I had the very great good fortune to meet her on a number of occasions. Two stick in my memory.

"The first was in 2002. I was the treasurer of the CPA. We decided that we would have a conference of Commonwealth parliamentarians. We had an immediate affirmative answer from the Palace that Her Majesty and Prince Philip would be delighted to come, and they came. We met in Lancaster House.

"I had two duties. One was to take round Prince Philip while the chairman took round the Queen. Then we all four gathered.

"I had the job of making a presentation to Her Majesty of a wonderful paper knife, crafted by perhaps our finest female silversmith.

"The knife had the mace at the end of it. She wielded it and said, "By Jove, that’s got a very good feeling." Before the end of the day, I had a letter from her office saying that she was already using it and much enjoying it."

Lord Cormack added: "My other memory is a very personal one. On April 20, 2010, I was at a farewell party at Windsor Castle for the Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures.

"The Queen was there, mingling with us. Of course, the next day she was due to be 84. I said what I thought were some appropriate words and also said, “My grandson is six tomorrow and is very thrilled that he shares your birthday.”

"Please give him my warmest wishes", she said. Edward thought this was an extraordinary leg-pull when I rang him up and told him, but it was just typical of her ability to relate not only to significant Commonwealth parliamentarians but to a little boy whom she certainly never met.

"She cared about her family, as has been said so often."

He said the House of Lords could best thank the Queen and "encourage" the new King by "trying to demonstrate the sort of unity for which she always stood".

"We have a particular responsibility in your Lordships’ House, where party politics is not as acerbic as it is in the other place," he said.

"She was a person who brought others together. It is clearly the manifest desire of our new King to do the same. We must play our part in doing that."