Long to reign over you: Queen vows to stay on throne

FOR a monarch who has been on the throne for 60 years, the Queen made it clear that she is not ready to step aside as she came to Westminster to rededicate herself to the British nation.

In a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament yesterday, Her Majesty rededicated herself to serving the nation “for now and the years to come”, as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

There was praise for her son and heir, Prince Charles, 63, but a clear signal that the 85-year-old monarch has no intention of relinquishing her duties to the UK as a whole.

In a speech penned by the Queen herself, she joked with the parliamentarians that she had “dealt with a dozen prime ministers” and had signed more than 3,500 bills in her six decades on the throne.

She said: “We are reminded here of our past, of the continuity of our national story and the virtues of resilience, ingenuity and tolerance which created it.

“I have been privileged to witness some of that history and, with the support of my family, rededicate myself to the service of our great country and its people now and in the years to come.”

But the 12th prime minister, David Cameron, sitting on the front row, seemed to be displeased about something that was going on in Westminster Hall, the place where one of Her Majesty’s forebears, King Charles I, was tried and sentenced to death.

His glare, though, was aimed directly at the Speaker of the Commons, John Bercow, who appeared to be almost glued to the Queen’s side on occasions during the rededication.

It may have been that the Speaker had just granted an inconvenient 90-minute debate on the controversial NHS bill, although the two men are known to dislike one another strongly.

But it could have been the speech delivered by Mr Bercow prior to the Queen getting on her feet to address the two Houses that provoked the Prime Minister’s ire.

Mr Bercow’s words managed to provoke a storm of outrage and debate on the social media forum of political choice, Twitter. Introducing the Queen, he said: “You are a kaleidoscope Queen of a kaleidoscope country in a kaleidoscope Commonwealth.”

The Queen seemed mildly amused, but she may have wondered whether she should have chosen a rainbow dress ahead of her mono-coloured yellow outfit.

Mr Bercow praised her for “60 years of stability, 60 years of security, 60 years of certainty, 60 years of sacrifice, 60 years of service”.

He added: “If, as Gandhi asserted, ‘the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others’, then Your Majesty must have found yourself countless times over the past decades.

“You have dedicated yourself to others.”

This was the Queen’s sixth address to both Houses of Parliament. She gave similar speeches in celebration of her Golden Jubilee in 2002 and Silver Jubilee 25 years earlier in 1977.

Meanwhile, Mr Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband, the man who would like to be the Queen’s 13th prime minister, seemed to be getting on very well. Sitting next to one another, the two political opponents, who will today again try to dismantle each other over the dispatch box in Prime Minister’s Questions, could be seen sharing a joke.

Which was more than could be said for the tenth and 11th prime ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who studiously avoided exchanging many words at all.

With only a handful of Commons appearances in the past 18 months Mr Brown, who is still the MP for Kirkcaldy, has not visited parliament much more than Her Majesty herself since he relinquished office.

The Queen used the word “treating” in a context to mean negotiating with someone, especially an opponent.

She went on to say: “During these years as your Queen, the support of my family has, across the generations, been beyond measure.”

Her comment that “Prince Philip is, I believe, well known for declining compliments of any kind” brought laughter from the guests, and she added quickly, “but throughout he has been a constant strength and guide”.

The Queen also made her audience chuckle when she joked about following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria, who celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. She said: “So, in an era when the regular, worthy rhythm of life is less eye- catching than doing something extraordinary, I am reassured that I am merely the second sovereign to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee.”