‘Wave after wave of grief is rolling across the world’: Boris Johnson says Britain is enduring its ‘saddest day’ after the death of ‘Elizabeth the Great’
- Boris Johnson says the Queen spread ‘magic around her kingdom’ in a tribute
- He praised the Queen’s ‘seemingly inexhaustible but understated sense of duty’
- Her death came only two days after he met the monarch at Balmoral to resign
- Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing
Britain is enduring its ‘saddest day’ following the death of ‘Elizabeth the Great’, Boris Johnson has said.
The former PM was among the six living former prime ministers of Elizabeth’s reign to pay tribute, only two days after he met the monarch at Balmoral to resign.
He says the Queen spread ‘magic around her kingdom’ for an ‘unrivalled’ 70 years and she possessed a ‘simple power to make us happy’.
Mr Johnson said: ‘This is our country’s saddest day. In the hearts of every one of us there is an ache at the passing of our Queen, a deep and personal sense of loss – far more intense, perhaps, than we expected.
The former PM was among the six living former prime ministers of Elizabeth’s reign to pay tribute, only two days after he met the monarch at Balmoral to resign
‘In these first grim moments since the news, I know that millions and millions of people have been pausing whatever they have been doing, to think about Queen Elizabeth, about the bright and shining light that has finally gone out.
‘She seemed so timeless and so wonderful that I am afraid we had come to believe, like children, that she would just go on and on.
‘Wave after wave of grief is rolling across the world, from Balmoral – where our thoughts are with all the Royal Family – and breaking far beyond this country and throughout that great Commonwealth of nations that she so cherished and which cherished her in return.
‘As is so natural with human beings, it is only when we face the reality of our loss that we truly understand what has gone. It is only really now that we grasp how much she meant for us, how much she did for us, how much she loved us.
He insisted the Queen, 96, spread ‘magic around her kingdom’ for an ‘unrivalled’ 70 years and she possessed a ‘simple power to make us happy’
‘As we think of the void she leaves, we understand the vital role she played, selflessly and calmly embodying the continuity and unity of our country.’
Mr Johnson praised the Queen’s ‘deep wisdom’ and her ‘seemingly inexhaustible but understated sense of duty’.
He added: ‘This is our country’s saddest day because she had a unique and simple power to make us happy. That is why we loved her. That is why we grieve for Elizabeth the Great, the longest-serving and in many ways the finest monarch in our history.’
Mr Johnson said he believes the new King will ‘amply do justice to her legacy’.
Mr Johnson praised the Queen’s ‘deep wisdom’ and her ‘seemingly inexhaustible but understated sense of duty’. He is pictured above at Balmoral just two days ago above with wife Carrie as he met the Queen to resign
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