On what would have been Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday, Charles III has paid tribute to his mother in a video message. The King called her ‘constant, steadfast and wholly devoted’ to service.
The message was recorded at Balmoral earlier this month and began: ‘Today, as we mark what would have been my beloved mother’s one hundredth birthday, my family and I pause to reflect on the life and loss of a Sovereign who meant so much to us all and to celebrate anew the many blessings of her memory.
‘Queen Elizabeth’s ‘promise with destiny kept’ shaped the world around her and touched the lives of countless people across our nation, the Commonwealth and beyond,’ the Monarch said.
He called her life ‘one of remarkable change’ but that ‘through each passing decade, through every transformation, she remained constant, steadfast and wholly devoted to the people she served’.
Charles referenced a number of significant moments in her reign, including her ‘tea’ with a CGI Paddington Bear for her Platinum Jubilee, in the last months of her life.
‘Millions will remember her for moments of national significance; many others for a fleeting personal encounter, a smile, a kind word that lifted spirits, or for that marvellous twinkle of the eye when sharing a marmalade sandwich with Paddington Bear in the final months of her life.’
‘Much about the times we now live in I suspect may have troubled her deeply, but I take heart from her belief that goodness will always prevail and that a brighter dawn is never far from the horizon.
He didn’t specify what issues, but the Royal Family faces increased scrutiny amidst the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for misconduct in public office, as well as his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
‘For as a young Princess Elizabeth put it in her first ever public broadcast, aged just 14,’ The King said, ‘we can each play our part “to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place”. It is a belief which I share, with all my heart.
‘So young or old, and whatever our differences, let us therefore seek to follow this example as we make today not the marking of a milestone felt by absence but the celebration of a life well-lived, and a legacy of hope, as we strive together towards a ‘better, happier tomorrow’ – one rooted in peace, justice, prosperity and security.
‘In this, I renew my own solemn pledge of duty and service to you all.’
He ended: ‘God bless you, darling Mama; you remain forever in our hearts and prayers.’
