Last month Rutland remembered Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on what would have been her 100th birthday, with a moving community tribute in Oakham, honouring a lifetime of service with ceremony, reflection and local pride<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ufeffRutland came together last month to commemorate what would have been the 100th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, at a community event hosted by the Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland. The day began at Oakham Library with a traditional \u2018elevenses\u2019 for mothers and toddlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At midday, a commemorative ceremony was held at the Queen Elizabeth II statue. The Lord-Lieutenant, Dr Sarah Furness, delivered a speech reflecting on Her Majesty\u2019s life of service and enduring legacy, followed by the laying of a bouquet \u2014 a small tribute to a great life. After a prayer, those in attendance joined together in singing the National Anthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ceremony also featured a heartfelt reading of a Queen Elizabeth II centenary poem, written and read by local resident Henry Dawe, adding a personal and reflective element to the proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new sign was also unveiled during the ceremony, detailing the history of the statue and the county\u2019s royal connections. Funded by Discover Rutland, it further enhances the site and ensures that the story of the memorial is preserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord-Lieutenant said: \u201cWe gather today with gratitude and affection to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of our late sovereign, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Here in Oakham, at the first memorial statue of Her Late Majesty in the world, we stand not only before a work of art, but before a symbol of enduring service, duty and love of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her Centenary Day\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> \ufeffWords can wound \u2013 they can be cutting, carping, curt and callous I\u2019m here to pause, I\u2019m here to pay a tribute in these verses You will them to keep fighting and you pray that they\u2019ll hold on Back then we saw her passing \u2013 since then the passing of four years My lines cannot do justice to that bleak and empty night Steadfastly, though, we have soldiered on, as she would want us to Her days spent in our loyal service, hearing duty\u2019s call We see her on our screens, in books and in this noble statue This day she would have turned 100, filling history\u2019s page Last month Rutland remembered Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on what would have been her 100th birthday, with a moving…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,12],"tags":[328,334,27],"class_list":["post-3716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-highlights","tag-queen","tag-queen-elizabeth-ii","tag-rutland"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3718,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716\/revisions\/3718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
by Henry Dawe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
But today they praise our much-missed lady of the palace
Here in our county town I offer Rutland\u2019s grateful thanks
Amidst this sea of faces one more figure swells the ranks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And tributes, often sad, remind us of black ties and hearses
You find, in life, that there are people you\u2019ll always remember
When their bright fire begins to fade you cling to every ember<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We wished that for our kingdom\u2019s rock but quickly she had gone
Yet all the while we\u2019ve kept the vision of her face serene
Still the smile, still the warmth of our late lamented Queen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prompts us to recall the day our country cried a flood of tears
The sudden, sorrowful, sincere outpouring of emotion
Was fitting for a sovereign who had shown such rare devotion<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A nation so bereft without its precious guiding light
A land plunged into darkness and a pallor in her court
Just so unlike the many shades of colour she had brought<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naturally, she\u2019d hate to think that we were permanently blue
But my task now is to express that we do not forget her
As monarch it is certain we could not have asked for better<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seven decades on the throne, such a beacon for us all
Such a spirit, with such style, such a presence with such grace
To our minds forever close, in our hearts she\u2019s pride of place<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lustre in her eyes means that you feel she\u2019s looking at you
It\u2019s true that she will stay with us, and our thoughts never leave
We accept that time moves on, yet Britain\u2019s soul will always grieve <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quite magical it would have been if she had reached that age
Nonetheless, at 96, she\u2019d look proudly on her feats
Deeply moved she\u2019d have been, seeing the mourning in the streets
The people of this country cherished her from Wick to Devon
We send her love and gratitude at her new home in Heaven.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"