Her Majesty’s sailors, soldiers and aviators ‘truly loved her’, Bracknell’s MP told the Commons during a tribute to the late Queen. 

James Sunderland said Queen Elizabeth II was “aware of the service that lay ahead” as the head of the armed forces since the start of her reign, which began at Treetops Hotel in Kenya in 1952 following the death of her father King George VI. 

Having already become colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards at the age of 16, The Queen then became head of the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. 

“I cannot think of a single person to whom that famous mantra of “serve to lead” could be more perfectly applied. Her sailors, soldiers and aviators truly loved her, and rightly so,” Mr Sunderland told the Commons. 

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Prior to becoming an MP, Mr Sunderland was himself commissioned into the British Army from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1993, which sits within his constituency. He served for 26 years before retiring in November 2019 with the rank of Colonel. 

“I can tell the House from experience that servicemen and women do not proudly serve their country or even pay the ultimate sacrifice because the prevailing Government ask it of them—nor do they do it to follow orders, or out of camaraderie or even a sense of glory—but because of service to the Crown.  

“The glue that actually binds military service at sea, on land and in the air is the democracy, freedom and sovereignty of this great nation and the monarch who presides over it,” he added. 

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Mr Sunderland went on to highlight the three times a year when the Queen or her representative would visit Sandhurst for the sovereign's parade where cadets are commissioned into the army, including his own in 1992. 

The Commons heard about the Queen’s visits to Bracknell “on at least 20 occasions” during her life, including opening the Lexicon shopping centre in 2018, attending Wellington College in 2009, the Transport Research Laboratory in 1995, the Victuallers’ School in 1994 and the Look Out centre in 1991.  

I visited the Lexicon in Bracknell yesterday to sign the book of condolence, near to where she had opened it four years earlier.  

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“I spoke to constituents who were saddened by her passing. Some I met were visibly overcome by grief and loss, uncertain for their own future,” Mr Sunderland concluded. 

The Queen’s period of Laying-in-State, which takes place in Westminster Hall from 5pm today (September 14), will end at 6.30am on Monday when the coffin will be taken in procession to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral. 

It will be broadcast live in Bond Square, with coverage of the service and the subsequent procession to Windsor being shown from 10:15am on Monday September 19.