The sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will cause deep sorrow for many in our community in Haringey, in the United Kingdom, and indeed across the Commonwealth.

Throughout her long life she devoted herself to service and to her people. I know that people will take great comfort at this sad time from their own personal memories of the Queen, whether they met her personally during her reign, saw her on a local visit to Haringey or at a State occasion elsewhere.

The images of the Queen opening Wood Green shopping centre and Sky City in 1981, and St Aidan’s School in 1972, show the joy she brought to those that she met locally, and I am sure that they are memories which will be recalled by those involved in the days and weeks ahead.

As the Head of the Commonwealth, the Queen had a unique role as a figurehead for a diverse range of nations across every continent and with both a Republican and a Monarchy as their form of Government.

She took great pride in the Commonwealth and in each of its nations, and as both a Shadow Foreign Office Minister and as an MP representing such a diverse constituency with people from virtually every Commonwealth country it is this legacy which I will remember the Queen for most fondly.

Among countless other relationships she formed in her life it is her abiding friendship with the late South African President Nelson Mandela which stands as a unique reminder of her role as the Head of the Commonwealth, with both the Queen and Mr Mandela reportedly departing from protocol to use their first names in a sign of their mutual respect and admiration.

As the country and the Commonwealth take some time to mark the Queen’s passing and reflect, I again pay my sincere condolences to the King, the Royal Family, and all those who met the Queen, knew her, or had respect for her role and her lifetime of service.

May she rest in peace.