Queen Elizabeth II: Lord-lieutenant leads tributes in Cambridgeshire

Civic leaders and community groups across Cambridgeshire have paid their respects following the death of the Queen.

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's longest-serving monarch, died at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96.

She made her last official visit to Cambridge in 2019, when she visited the new Royal Papworth Hospital.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire Julie Spence said news of her death had "saddened us all".

Flags will fly at half-mast across the county and books of condolence are being opened.

The lord-lieutenant said in a statement: "As the longest reigning monarch of modern times, she is the only sovereign most of the people of this country have ever known, and news of her death has touched and saddened us all.

"Our particular love and affection has been deepened and strengthened by the links she has to our area and the frequent visits she has made to this county, since making her first official visit as monarch to the city of Cambridge in October 1955.

"Her most recent visit to our area was to formally open the new Royal Papworth Hospital in 2019, granting to it the Royal honorific and I was privileged to be able to welcome her on that day.

"The crowds of local people who turned out to welcome her then, mourn her today."

She said her thoughts and prayers were with the Queen's family.

The Queen made her last official visit to Cambridge in July 2019, when she unveiled a plaque at the new Royal Papworth Hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

She also passed her handbag to someone before insisting on planting a tree without help - at the age of 93 - on a trip to the National Institute of Agricultural Botany.

The monarch had been a regular visitor to the county over the years, and supported her grandson, the Duke of Cambridge, during his career as a pilot with the East of England Air Ambulance Service, based at Cambridge Airport, where she visited in July 2016.

Other visits included for the quincentenary celebrations at Christ's College in June 2005 and at St John's College in April 2011.

In May 2013 she officially opened the £212m Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology before meeting staff at Rosie Maternity Hospital and unveiling a plaque.

The royal party arrived in the city by train and were greeted by about 400 well-wishers.

Cambridgeshire County Council said a number of the county's libraries would open books of condolence for residents to sign and an online book was also available.

The official proclamation of the new sovereign will be read out by the High Sheriff Jennifer Crompton with the lord-lieutenant at the Guildhall in Cambridge on Sunday, at 13:00 BST, followed by a similar ceremony in Peterborough at the Guildhall at 15:00.

The county council said areas in the Guildhall in Cambridge and the cathedral grounds and Cathedral Square in Peterborough had been set aside for the public to lay floral tributes.

Thanksgiving services at Great St Mary's Church in Cambridge and Ely and Peterborough Cathedrals are also being planned.

County council chairman Stephen Ferguson said: "The people of Cambridgeshire have a very deep affection for Her Majesty, and for the whole Royal Family who have visited the county often and with obvious pleasure, and of course we have particularly strong ties with her grandson and his wife on whom she bestowed the honour of being the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

"Like the rest of the country we will mourn her passing but also remember with affection and happiness her long reign.

"Our thoughts are with her family who are mourning not just the loss of a monarch, but the loss of a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother."

Prof Stephen J. Toope, vice chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said in a statement: "Her Majesty the Queen's reign defined the United Kingdom of the 20th and early 21st Centuries.

"Her Majesty's devotion to public service and the common good, her dignity, her sense of duty and her strong moral compass, will always be an inspiration."

The Queen also attended the 900th anniversary celebrations of the Diocese of Ely at Ely Cathedral in 2009.

In a statement, the cathedral said it was "deeply saddened" by the news of her death.

Peterborough Cathedral said: "Gracious God, we give thanks for the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth, for her faith and her dedication to duty.

"Bless our nation as we mourn her death and may her example continue to inspire us; through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Daniel Zeichner, Labour's Cambridge MP, said the Queen exemplified "the values of service and dignity" and said her death was "the end of an era".

Steve Barclay, Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire, said he knew across his constituency "there will be the most profound sadness and sense of loss as we mourn an extraordinary monarch".

South East Cambridgeshire MP Lucy Frazer said: "She dedicated her life to public service and fulfilled her role with dignity and grace. She was an inspiration to many across the globe."

The Conservative MP for Peterborough, Paul Bristow, said we are "all diminished by the loss" of the Queen and she was the "fundamental premise of our national life".

Jonathan Djanogly, MP for Huntingdon, said the Queen had given "exceptional and matchless service".

"Her Majesty dedicated her life to the service of our nation, and we in Huntingdonshire join others throughout the country and the Commonwealth in giving thanks for her unparalleled service," he said.

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